Lester Ziffren, 101, First to Report Start of Spanish Civil War, Dies
Lester Ziffren, a foreign correspondent for United Press in the 1930s whose coded message from Madrid signaled to the world the start of the Spanish Civil War, died at his home in Manhattan on Nov. 12. He was 101.
The cause was congestive heart failure, his daughter, Didi Hunter, said.
It was a tip from a friend, a Spanish aristocrat, that prompted Mr. Ziffren to defy Spanish government censors by sending a cryptic telegram to the United Press bureau in London on July 17, 1936, indicating that troops loyal to General Francisco Franco had revolted in what was then Spanish Morocco. Within 24 hours, combat erupted in many parts of Spain.
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The cause was congestive heart failure, his daughter, Didi Hunter, said.
It was a tip from a friend, a Spanish aristocrat, that prompted Mr. Ziffren to defy Spanish government censors by sending a cryptic telegram to the United Press bureau in London on July 17, 1936, indicating that troops loyal to General Francisco Franco had revolted in what was then Spanish Morocco. Within 24 hours, combat erupted in many parts of Spain.