Eleuterio Quintanilla Prieto (24 October 1886 in Gijon, Spain – 18 January 1966 in Bordeaux, France) was an Asturian/Spanish anarchist and freemason, educator and pupil of Francisco Ferrer Guardia.
Quintanilla was a central member of the CNT and lived in Spain until the end of the Spanish Civil War, when he went into exile in France where he died.
Quintanilla study at a public primary school, receiving high grades and finished his education early.
During his apprenticeship, he continued his studies at a workers' college and took private lessons from an anarchist who served as Quintanilla's grammar teacher.
[8] That same year, he founded the weekly newspaper Acción Libertaria alongside Ricardo Mella,[9] sometimes they would publish it under the name of El Libertario to bypass government censorship.
[12] Pablo Iglesias, Melquíades Álvarez, and Gumersindo de Azcárate protested against Quintanilla and Sierra's treatment in front of the Canalejas government.
[17] At the beginning of World War I, Quintanilla and Mella both declared themselves as supporters of the allies; this went against contemporary anarchists Peter Kropotkin, Jean Grave, and the official position of the CNT who all remained neutral.
Quintanilla took the legalistic stance, and was noted to hold substantial influence over Segundo Blanco, secretary of the national committee.
[31] On 24 July 1931, in an interview with El Noroeste, Quintanilla lamented about his desires for a Bolshevik-style revolution in Spain, but commented that the prospect was "remote".
[34] Quintanilla was later assigned to the protection of the " artistic treasures of Asturias and Santander", a position that Segundo Blanco would eventually take over.