 Ortega’s acrid comments failed to shield him from the Republic’s political turmoil. Thus, on August 31, 1936, during the early phases of the Spanish Civil War, stricken with serious gall bladder issues and not knowing what to expect from his political enemies, Ortega, his wife, his three children and his brother Eduardo embarked on a French boat from Alicante to Merseilles with the assistance of the French Embassy. They settled in La Tronche, near Grenoble, until November when they moved to Paris where they remained, the winter of 1937 to August 1939, except for short trips to the Netherlands and Portugal. At the invitation of Johann Huizinga, from late November 1937 to February 1938,Ortega presented lectures in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Delft, Leiden and The Hague. After the lectures in the Netherlands, Ortega returned to Paris where he underwent a gallbladder operation in October. In February, 1939, he traveled to the south of Portugal to recuperate from the operation. While in Portugal, Ortega’s mother died on April 21, 1939 in a small town (Puente Genil) near Córdoba; on November 12 of the following year, his sister, Rafaela, died. Eventually, at the end of August, Ortega left for Argentina accompanied by his wife and daughter. He remained in Argentina during the major part of the Second World War, lecturing at the University of Buenos Aires until late February/early March in 1942, when he, his wife and daughter settled in Estoril, Portugal.