Editing Mateo Villanueva (section)

==Early Life & Education==
Villanueva was born on November 20th 1910 in [[Carville]], the capital of then-independent [[Costeno]]. In 1922, when Villanueva was 11, Costeno unified with other provinces to form [[Lauchenoiria]]. Villanueva was one of six children, who all attended Academia de la Ciudad, a private school situated in the city centre of Carville. 

His father, Oriol Villanueva, was involved in the campaign against unification, believing that the two English-speaking provinces would come to dominate the Spanish-speaking south. After unification, Oriol refused to engage with politics.

While at school, Villanueva read ''The Communist Manifesto'' and became an advocate of communism, joining the Communist Party at the age of 19, while at university in [[Yerville]], studying chemistry. He dropped out of university in 1931 and took a job working as a mechanic. He remained active in politics throughout the 1930s.