[21] Juan Antonio married Teresa Fanjul Blanco (died 1893),[22] a native of Amieva[23] and descendant to a locally recognized family;[24] her father[25] ran a commerce and tanning business.

[27] After death of her husband, the widow was first assisted by her brother, who inherited the family enterprises; following differences with her sibling she moved to live with her cousins in Galicia,[28] where Juan spent his childhood.

[44] Juan was orphaned by his militantly Liberal father when entering the teenage period;[45] despite Carlist antecedents among his paternal uncles,[46] there is neither any indication that he inherited Traditionalist outlook along the family line.

[47] For some time he served as secretary to professor José Fernández Sánchez,[48] an acquaintance of Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo; de Mella had access to their lengthy correspondence and was exposed to the doctrine.

[55] At least his Pensamiento pieces must have made an impact beyond Galicia, as they were noticed in Madrid; this refers in particular to a series of vehemently anti-Nocedal articles, published in wake of the Integrist breakup from Carlism in the late 1880s.

When Correo achieved stability and moved out of its teething phase,[66] Llauder decided to return to Barcelona; his position of director was assumed by the former redactor jefé, Leandro Herrero, whose job was in turn offered to de Mella.

In the early 1890s the marquis launched an innovative scheme of touring the country and mobilizing support by means of public gatherings and close meetings; de Mella used to accompany him,[74] acknowledging the journeys and Cerralbo's addresses in booklets.

Following enormously conflictive campaign against the governmental candidate[81] this time de Mella won, commencing a string of Carlist Estella victories which was to last almost continuously until the end of Restoration.

[94] At that time the Carlists were mounting a coup supposed to topple the Restoration regime; de Mella contributed propaganda wise, fathering ambiguous press notes and public addresses.

[117] Following 1909 death of Carlos VII[118] his son as the new Carlist king found himself pressed to dismiss Feliú;[119] he opted for a compromise, confirming the nomination but appointing de Mella his own personal secretary.

[124] During the next 2 years the group, already dubbed Mellistas,[125] sabotaged Jefe Delegado,[126] in 1910 openly promoting non-dynastic ultra-conservative coalitions[127] against Feliú-approved accords strictly conditioned by dynastic claims.

Constantly dubbing Feliú as incompetent leader,[128] in 1912 Mella decided to launch a full-scale onslaught; he accused jefe delegado of illegitimately holding the jefatura[129] and demanded his deposition, in private threatening the claimant with rejecting his rule as deprived of "legitimacy of execution".

[150] Following outbreak of the Great War[151] earlier demonstrated pro-German de Mella's sympathies,[152] very much shared by the party rank and file, turned into a full-blown campaign.

[153] Combined with his personal gallophobia[154] and traditional Carlist anti-British sentiment,[155] it produced numerous booklets[156] and lectures;[157] technically they supported Spanish neutrality,[158] but effectively they favored the Central Powers.

[171] De Mella and his supporters concluded that the strategy employed previously in struggle for domination in the party – cornering the claimant in private to elicit his conformity – would no longer work and that an ultimate all-out confrontation was imminent.

[172] He mounted a media counter-offensive, going public with charges disseminated confidentially in 1912 and presenting Don Jaime as a ruler who lost his legitimacy: for years he remained passive and inactive, pursued hypocritical policy of declaring neutrality but in fact supporting Entente, departed from Catholic orthodoxy, ignored traditional Carlist collegial bodies embarking on Cesarist policy, toyed with the party and - clear reference to his lack of offspring - behaved irresponsibly; all in all, his latest moves were nothing but a "Jaimada", a coup within and against Traditionalism.

His men reclaimed control over El Correo Español[175] and he replaced San Escartín with former germanophile politicians who seemed pro-Mellistas but turned loyal to the royal house, first Pascual Comín and then Luis Hernando de Larramendi.

[177] Vázquez de Mella, conscious of his strong position among MPs and local jefes, responded with a call to stage a grand assembly, hoping that the party heavyweights would help him regain control.

[179] Though de Mella lost the battle to control Carlism, on rebellious path he was followed by most of its local leaders,[180] MPs[181] and otherwise distinguished figures;[182] it was only among the rank and file that Mellistas gained little support, the group resembling an army of generals with rather few soldiers.

[187] The 1920 elections proved even worse, with Mellistas gaining only 2 tickets;[188] de Mella, who lost again, soon launched his bid for seat in Tribunal Supremo, but failed to mount sufficient support among conservative parties and suffered prestigious defeat.

His dislike for systematic effort and commitment - demonstrated already during academic years, Correo management, inability to produce a major written opus, never completed Academia entry address and solitary lifestyle - again took its toll.

[192] When a grand Mellist assembly materialized in October 1922 in Zaragoza, it was controlled by supporters of Víctor Pradera, who instead of an ultra-Right maximalist coalition advocated a broad conservative alliance based on the lowest common denominator.

[196] Whatever his views were, in early 1925 he already had few doubts about the dictature; he considered it a pocket version of a grand political shakeup needed by the country and in January 1925 ridiculed it as "golpe de escoba",[197] though he also allegedly confirmed that directorio implemented some Traditionalist ideas.

Political sovereignty lies with a monarch equipped with strong but highly limited powers; such entity is united by common orthodoxy, defined by Catholic faith and Spanish tradition.

[215] Though many thinkers before him dedicated considerable attention to the problem and underlined that it was not a contractual body but a result of natural development,[216] most scholars agree that it was de Mella who introduced the theory of social sovereignty.

[237] This applies to both young men[238] and experienced statesmen; it is often quoted that when listening to a then unknown de Mella in the Cortes, Antonio Cánovas mumbled in amazement: "¿Quién es ese monstruo?

"[239] De Mella exercised hypnotic effect on huge public gatherings[240] and limited audiences alike; it is not infrequent to find reports of listeners brought by his addresses to the borders of frenzy and hysteria.

There are scholars who make veiled references to Hitler and Mussolini, claiming that de Mella represented a new type of charismatic public speaker compared to old-style 19th century leaders.

As there is no in-depth, extensive and systematic treaty among them, a number of editors attempted sort of a synthesis by selecting pieces they deemed most representative and by combining them in topic-oriented sections;[251] this is how de Mella's thought is usually absorbed.

[281] In Spanish popular discourse de Mella is moderately present, usually referred to as a political theorist,[282] at times denounced as co-responsible for reactionary, anti-democratic, shameful past.