Melchor Rodríguez García (30 May 1893 —14 February 1972), also known by his nickname of The Red Angel (Spanish: El Ángel Rojo), was a Spanish politician, trade unionist, and notable anarcho-syndicalist, who served as the head of prison authorities in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War. He was also the last Mayor of Madrid before the Francoist forces took over the city. Early life, education, and early career Early life and family Melchor Rodríguez García, was born on 30 May 1893, in the Triana neighborhood of Seville, Spain. His father was Isidoro Rodríguez, who died in an accident on the docks of the Guadalquivir. His mother was a seamstress and cigar maker who took care of Melchor and his two brothers. Education and early career Rodríguez studied at the asylum school. When he was thirteen years old, he began to work as a coppersmith in a workshop in Seville. He attempted to become a bullfighter and left his home to visit various fairs. El Cossío (the bullfighting encyclopedia) contains a reference to Rodríguez, cited as the only right-hander who combined bullfighting with politics. Rodríguez fought in Sanlúcar de Barrameda in 1913, and later in increasingly important squares until he reached the Puerta de Alcalá bullring. There he suffered a serious injury in August 1918. He retired in 1920, after some more bullfights in Salamanca and Seville. After his bullfighting career, Rodríguez moved to Madrid in 1921, where he began to work as a sheet metal worker. Around this time, he joined the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT). He began to be attracted to the Labor Movement and joined the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). Shortly after, he was appointed president of the Anarchist Trade Union of Carrocera. He began the fight for the rights of inmates, a fight that would cost him time in prison during the monarchy and the Second Republic. Head of the Prison authorities Appointment After the outbreak of the Civil War, on 5 December 1936, Juan García Oliver appointed Rodríguez García director of the prisons of Madrid, as one of the anarchists to be accepted into the government for their support of the republicans. Tenure He was responsible not only for the upkeep of the prisoners and prevention of escapes, but more importantly for prevention of lynching, proposed by numerous members of various militias. People in besieged Madrid reacted with violence toward imprisoned nationalists after particularly