anarchists
Articles about the lives of the men and women who helped to build the international anarchist movement.
Claramunt, Teresa, 1862- 1931
One of the founders of the Spanish anarchist movement, an ‘organic intellectual’ and one of its most distinguished women activists
“The Louise Michel of Spain"
- Emma Goldman, in a 1937 letter to Ethel Mannin.
Pedrini, Belgrado, 1913-1979
A short biography of anarchist Belgrado Pedrini who took part in antifascist resistance and as a result served 30 years in prison in post-Mussolini Italy.
Born at Carrara on 5th May 1913, Belgrado’s mother died when he was nine. His father was a sculptor and had the opportunity to travel to many cities, and he named his son after the Yugoslav city which was still fresh in his memory.
Bonomini, Ernesto, 1903-1986
A short biography of Italian anarchist and Spanish Civil War fighter, Ernesto Bonomini, who assassinated a leading fascist in France.
Ernesto Bonomini was born on 18 March 1903 at Pozzolengo in Italy. From a very young age he became interested in socialist ideas and became an active antimilitarist. He trained as a tailor, in which trade he was expert.
With the fascist repression against the workers’, socialist and anarchist movements, Ernesto was forced to emigrate to France in 1922.
Cochon, Georges, 1879-1959
A short biography of French anarchist, pioneering tenants' organiser and conscientious objector Georges Cochon.
Grandfather of squatting
Georges Alexandre Cochon was born on the 26th March 1879 at Chartres. Earning a living as a worker in the upholstering trade, he gravitated towards the anarchist movement in Paris.
Durand, Jules, 1880-1926
A short biography of the tragic life of French anarchist and coalheaver Jules Gustave Durand, who was framed for the killing of a scab.
The Dreyfus of the poor
Montels, Jules, 1843-1916
A short biography of anarchist, Paris Communard and tutor to Leo Tolstoy's children, Jules Montels.
Jules Montels was born in France at Gignac in the Herault department, on 25th March 1843. As a young boy he experienced the uprising in 1851 against the coup of Louis Napoleon, which was followed by savage repression. These left bitter memories for him.
Alérini, Charles, 1842-1877+
A short biography of French anarchist revolutionary and First International activist, Charles Alérini.
Charles Alérini was born at Bastia, Corsica, on 20 March 1842.
He became a teacher and taught first at the lycée of Marseilles and then at the College of Barcelonnette in southern France.
Bastelica, André, 1845-1884
A short biography of First International member, brilliant agitator and organiser of the Marseilles working class, André Bastelica.
Born at Bastia in Corsica on 28th November 1845, Bastelica was from an early age, extremely curious. He was an autodidact par excellence, like so many other workers found in the revolutionary movement. An anarchist even before the term had been properly applied, he started his working life as a shop assistant and then as a typesetter.
John, Augustus, 1878-1961
A biography of British artist and Bohemian Augustus John, with particular focus on his connection with the anarchist movement.
Augustus John and the Anarchists
Augustus John has often been cited as one of a few from the British artistic and intellectual milieu to have identified themselves with the anarchist movement. But Augustus John’s relationship with that movement was as ambivalent as his own life.
Pindy, Jean Louis, 1840-1917
A short biography of Jean Louis Pindy: Paris Communard, anarchist and inventor of the Paindy.
“Authority, in whatever hands it is placed, is always pernicious to the advancement of humanity” Pindy, writing in La Revue Blanche.
Jean Louis Pindy was born on June 3rd at Brest in western France. A carpenter-joiner, he became a member of the Brest section of the First International in 1867.
