Eleuterio Sánchez

Eleuterio Sánchez (born 1942), known as "El Lute", was a legendary Spanish outlaw, now a writer.

Life

Eleuterio Sánchez was born in 1942 in Salamanca, in western Spain. He was born into a desperately poor Merchero family, while his father was in prison.

Eleuterio Sánchez was sentenced to six months in prison for stealing two hens. Shortly thereafter, in 1965, he was sentenced to death over the robbery of a jewelry store in Madrid in which a security guard was killed. Eleuterio Sánchez claimed he was not guilty of the murder, and was imprisoned because of his poor background as a convenient scapegoat. The sentence was commuted to thirty years in a military prison. Eleuterio Sánchez maintained his innocence and fought his conviction. He escaped several times and was Spain's most wanted person.

Although he entered prison as an illiterate peasant, he taught himself to read and gained a law degree, authored five books, and continued his fight to clear his name.

He was finally pardoned on June 20, 1981.

Eleuterio Sánchez lived in Tomares, Seville with his second wife and her two children, having largely left the persona of El Lute behind.

In February 2006, he and his wife argued in the street in Punta Umbría, Huelva over alleged infidelity. His wife alleged mistreatment at his hands, and he was arrested. He was later freed temporarily.

In popular culture

In 1979, Eleuterio Sánchez's story was the subject of a hit single by Boney M from the album Oceans of Fantasy. His major work, published while in prison, is "Camina o revienta" ("Forge on or Die").

He was the subject of a series of two films by Vicente Aranda (three chapters in the TV version) El Lute: Camina o revienta (1987) and El Lute II: Mañana seré libre (1988). Sánchez was played by Imanol Arias.

Sources

• Eleuterio Sánchez: «Para unos fui un héroe y para otros fui una bestia», Karolina Almagia, KULTURA