Elfidio Alonso Rodríguez

Elfidio Alonso Rodríguez was born on 16 October 1905 in Tacoronte. The son of Rosalía Rodríguez, a national schoolteacher in Guamasa, and Ambrosio Alonso, he grew up in a family connected with education and public life. His sister María Rosa Alonso became an important Canarian philologist and essayist.

Although he began medical studies, he soon turned to journalism. He wrote for newspapers such as La Prensa, La Tarde and Informaciones, contributed to the Republican weekly Proa and in 1930 became president of the Republican Youth of Tenerife. During the Second Republic he was elected deputy for Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1933 and renewed his seat in 1936 for Unión Republicana. During the Civil War he directed the Republican ABC newspaper and held organisational and institutional responsibilities linked to Republican politics.

After the Republican defeat he went into exile, first in France and later in American countries including the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Mexico, where he continued his journalistic and political work in exile media and organisations. He returned to Tenerife after the restoration of democracy, contributed to the Canarian press and received the Gold Medal of the Canary Islands in 1998. He died on 28 February 2001 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna. This entry refers to the father of Elfidio Alonso Quintero, founder of Los Sabandeños.