Rafael Rodríguez Rapún

Rafael Rodríguez Rapún (1919–1937) was a Spanish actor and soldier during the Spanish Civil War. He was the companion of Spanish poet Federico García Lorca.

Life

A mining engineer by profession, great sportsman, PSOE activist, Rafael Rodríguez Rapún comes from a working-class family.

In 1933, he joined Federico García Lorca's La Barraca drama company as an actor. García Lorca affectionately nicknamed him "The Man with the Three Rs" in reference to his initials.

The painter and actor of the troupe Luis Sáenz de la Calzada, describes him as follows: “Kinky hair, not very wide forehead furrowed by a deep transverse wrinkle; correct nose that gave him, to a certain extent, the profile of a Greek statue.”

García Lorca and Rodríguez Rapún felt in love during the summer'1935 tour of La Barraca. The poet then appointed him as secretary of the company.

When the assassination of his companion by the Francoist militias was announced at the end of summer' 1936, Rodríguez Rapún decided to join the front to defend the Republic. After an artillery training in the town of Lorca, province of Murcia, he was sent to the Cantabrian front with the rank of lieutenant.

He died on August 18, 1937 during the Battle of Santander, a year after the assassination of his companion.

His memory is rediscovered by the writer Ian Gibson who wrote "Lorca y el mundo gay" in 2009 and by the writer and friend of Rafael María Teresa León, who considered him one the muse of the masterpiece los Sonetos del amor oscuro, although others specialists think it was Juan Ramírez de Lucas, other partner in life of the poet.