Alicia Mur, political prisoner and prison godmother

Based on the correspondence between the libertarian activist and former political prisoner Alicia Mur and comrades from her organisation between 1963 and 1977, this paper gives a case study of this elective family relationship, at the crossroads of emotional and activist ties. Sponsorship in a context of political imprisonment at the end of the Franco dictatorship required dealing with security measures to protect clandestine action and the regulations of prison institutions, which promoted communications based on family ties established by kinship or marriage. This kind of relationship, which is not very institutionalised and has not been the subject of significant scholarship, opens up more broadly on sociabilities in political detention, links to organisations and exile, and the gendered modalities of activism.