Elías de Andrés is ‘the last of the great blacksmiths’. He was born in Espirdo (Segovia) on 4 November 1934 into a family of blacksmiths. The family tradition began with his grandfather and was continued by his father, himself, and his two brothers. Currently, his son, a nephew, and two grandsons are still involved in ironwork. Five generations have been shaping this metal.

At the age of seven, he began to help his father by pulling the bellows in the smithy, climbing the mountain to prepare charcoal for the forge, and learning the trade. In his forge, they made and repaired ploughshares and plough blades, axes for woodcutters in La Granja and Valsaín, knives, rakes and other various tools. At the age of 14, he came to Segovia and opened his own blacksmith's shop with his brothers.

In his early days as a blacksmith, he mainly made and repaired picks for extracting and shaping stones from the Arrietas quarry. At that time, there were 60 or 70 labourers extracting and shaping pieces of granite. Each of them used to wear out about 15 picks a day. Elías made 300 to 400 picks every day.

A few years later, he and his brothers began working on the Communications Palace in Madrid, creating the main door and railings. In 1960, he made a beautiful sculpture for Son San Juan Airport in Palma de Mallorca. It was made in his workshop and installed by Elías at the airport.

He has participated in various exhibitions in France, Germany, Mexico and several Italian and Spanish cities (Seville, Granada, Malaga, etc.). The most important exhibition was ‘Elías de Andrés. The tradition of iron’, organised by Segovia City Council in the La Alhóndiga exhibition halls. This exhibition, comprising 130 works, was visited by nearly 3,000 people, including students from several schools in Segovia, with whom he talked about iron, forges and blacksmiths.

One of his most beloved works is an iron engraving of Picasso's Guernica. It has as many lines as the original, using wax and earth colours. It measures 1.40 x 70 and took more than 400 hours to complete.

In Segovia, we can see Elías's works in churches, inns, bridges, houses, streets and squares. Lecterns, candlesticks, door knockers, lamps, railings, wrought iron doors, gates, the former headquarters of the Caja de Ahorros de Segovia, the kiosk in the Plaza Mayor... Until recently, he often climbed the mountain and cycled several kilometres, because Elías was also a cyclist, a good cyclist who competed in several Spanish cities.

He now spends most of his time, every day of the week, devoted body and soul to his great passion: iron forging. He loves his art so much that he cannot live without it.

He designs objects at night and shapes them in the morning and afternoon: axes, candlesticks, birds, hearts, sabres, dragons, daggers, knots, hearts, animals and anything else he can think of; always new challenges and new dreams... He continues to research, transforming moped chains into beautiful knives, scrap metal into true works of art... He also devotes part of his time to teaching the many things he knows to the younger generations so that the techniques he knows are not lost, so that young people can learn how to make the Segovian diamond and bow on a railing, join two pieces of iron using the hot metal method, and transform iron bars or sheets into sailor's knots, sabres and hearts in just a few minutes, which he gives to the people who come to see him. Iron and forging are his life and the essence of his great energy.

He is always willing to show what he does and how he does it, collaborating at the Casa de la Moneda, where he feels at home, or at any other forge where his presence is requested, sending demonstration videos and giving demonstrations at forging schools, such as Ramón Recuero's school in Toledo, where he was honoured.

Sharing what he knows is one of his main motivations, as there are many techniques that are no longer used and if they are not taught, they may be lost.

Special mention should be made of the Royal Mint, which he has always loved and to which he feels very attached. For it, he has made, together with his son Javier, several railings, the entrance gate to the King's Garden, the balcony overlooking the Eresma, pergolas, pipes, peepholes, arches, railings, the door knocker on the main door, among other works, and numerous repairs. He has also always taken care of the forge to keep it in perfect condition: repairing the nozzle, replacing the refractory clay in the hearth, etc.

He has held numerous exhibitions at La Casa de la Moneda in recent years. In 2020, he participated in the show ‘La noche del Patrimonio’ (Heritage Night), which was attended by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Tourism.

In his demonstrations, he usually makes knots, daggers, crosses and other objects that he gives away to the audience, especially children, who are the most amazed by what he does and by the enchanting sound of the hammer and anvil, the continuous blowing of the bellows, the crackling of the fire, the contact of the hot iron with the water... and the many nuances of different colours of the iron in the process of its transformation.

In November 2021, Segovia City Council paid tribute to Elías in recognition of his long artistic and professional career as a blacksmith and creator of extraordinary works of art, and for his special connection to the Casa de la Moneda. Since then, the forge in this building has been called ‘Fragua Elías de Andrés’. The then acting mayor, Jesús García, and the Councillor for Tourism, Miguel Merino, unveiled a plaque in his honour, which will always remind us of our great blacksmith, as his name has been linked to the forge, the place where so many creations have been made, and where so many blacksmiths have helped the factory to function since it began operating in the second half of the 16th century.

As part of the ‘Heritage Sundays’ programme, Elías gave a tour of several of his works in Segovia, such as the kiosk in the main square of Segovia, balcony railings, street and square railings, bridges, gardens and churches, the door and railings of the former Caja Segovia headquarters, lecterns and lamps in restaurants, the parapet of the Torreón de Lozoya well...

In 2022, he was invited by the Provincial Museum of Segovia to participate in demonstrations of ancient crafts, on the occasion of the archaeological excavations of Aguilafuente and Confluenta, in Aguilafuente and Sepúlveda.

He has also given several demonstrations at the Sotosalbos forge and, carrying a portable forge, in Fueterrebollo and Marugán, a town to which he donated a sculpture that has been placed in one of its streets.

At 90 years of age, he has been working with iron in different forges for more than eighty years, and he still continues to strike the anvil seven days a week, because it is his dream and his life, and he loves it deeply.

Elías is a reference as a blacksmith and as a person. A big man with enormous hands and a heart even bigger than his body and his hands. A man who is impossible not to admire.

Text by Luis Miguel Fuentetaja, friend and representative of Elías de Andrés.