Francis Ryan | |
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&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Frank_Ryan,_circa_1936_(cropped).jpg) Frank Ryan c. 1936, while in Spain | |
| Nickname(s) | Frank Ryan |
| Born | 11 September 1902 Bottomstown, County Limerick, Ireland |
| Died | 10 June 1944 (aged 41) Loschwitz, Dresden, Saxony, Nazi Germany |
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Frank Ryan (Irish: Proinsias Ó Riain; 11 September 1902 – 10 June 1944) was an Irish politician, journalist and soldier. He first came to prominence as an Irish republican activist at University College Dublin and fought for the Irish Republican Army during the Irish Civil War. Ryan fell under the influence of Peadar O'Donnell, an advocate of socialism within Irish republicanism, which resulted in him breaking with the IRA and becoming involved with founding a new political organisation, the Republican Congress, and editing its associated newspaper, An Phoblacht.
Ryan led the Irish brigade in the Spanish Civil War on the Popular Front side, fighting for the Comintern-organised International Brigades (retroactively known as the Connolly Column). After being captured by pro-Nationalist Italians, he was sentenced to death, later changed to 30 years but after an international campaign, Ryan was released from prison in 1940 with the help of German authorities. Ryan would subsequently spend the next three years in Nazi Germany, where the extent and intent of his activities are disputed by contemporaries and historians. During his time there, Ryan was in poor health and after a failed attempt to return to Ireland on a U-boat he died of pneumonia aged 41. In 1979 the Irish government was eventually successful in repatriating his remains and he was buried in Glasnevin cemetery.