biographies
Biographies and autobiographies of key historical figures and thinkers, and ordinary people who have tried to change the world.
Roche, Karl (1862-1931) aka KR aka Isegrim aka Diogenes
A short biography of Karl Roche, leading light within the revolutionary German workers movement.
Karl Roche was born in on 31st October 1862 in Koenigsberg (now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad) in Prussia as Johann Friedrich Carl Roche.
Schreyer, Paul Albert aka Luigi 1887-1918
A short biography of Paul Schreyer, German anarchist who opposed the First World War
Paul Schreyer was born on 21st September 1887 in Zahna, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. A member of the Hamburg Anarchist Federation, he was editor of its weekly paper Kampf (1912-1914).
Schneider, Ernst Wilhelm 1883-1946??1970??) Aka Ikarus, Icarus
A short biography of the German revolutionary seaman Ernst Schneider
Born in Königsberg in Prussia (now the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad) on 23rd July 1883 Ernst Schneider was a harbour worker and seaman (steersman).
Benner, Fritz (1906-1966)
A short biography of Fritz Benner, courageous German anarchist.
Fritz Benner was born on 6th April 1906 in Solingen, Germany. By profession he was a belt operator. In 1927/28 he and his brother Willi joined the anarchosyndicalist Free Workers' Union of Germany (FAUD) in Wuppertal. His brother Eugen (usually known as August) also became involved. At this time the FAUD was past its height and only counted a few dozen members in Wuppertal.
Lagant, Christian 1926- 1978 aka Christian Lag aka Christian Lague
A short biography of Christian Lagant, French anarchist militant and one of chief editors of Noir et Rouge
”An exemplary comrade….intransigent militant..demanding but warm, sensitive but a passionate political debater” André Bernard
Wolf, Enno (1903 -1939/1940?)
A short biography of Enno Wolf, German anarchist who perished in the Nazi concentration camps
Enno Wolf was on born on 30th August 1903. Little is known about his life. He was a member of the Kassel group of the anarchosyndicalist Free Workers' Union of Germany (FAUD).
Hannibal, Hermann 1898-1963
A short biography of Hermann Hannibal, blacksmith and member of the FAUD, imprisoned by the Nazis in Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Hermann Hannibal was born on 8 October 1898 in Kassel. Little is known about his private life. He worked as a blacksmith. Between 1919 and 1925 he had 10 criminal convictions, eight of them for theft. He had two children: Franz, born on 4th January 1930, and Ilse, also born in the 1930s.
Bartling, Heinrich 1880-1940
Short biography of Heinrich Bartling, German anarchist active in the FAUD and FKAD and martyred by the Nazis.
Heinrich Bartling was born on 22nd September 1880 in Bielefeld. Very little biographical information is available on him. He worked as a fitter and later lived in Kassel. His political career took him together with others like Willi Paul from the Kassel Spartakusbund to the anarchosyndicalist Free Workers' Union of Germany (FAUD). They founded a local group of the FAUD in Kassel in 1920 .
Paul, Willi, 1897-1979
A short biography of Willi Paul, lifelong anarchist militant, active in the Anarchist-Communist Federation of Germany (FKAD) and the Spanish Civil War.
Wilhelm Paul was born on the 1st July 1897 in Goettingen. After a carpentry apprenticeship, he worked during 1915/16 as a relief worker and then as a metal worker. He then served as a soldier in the First World War. After the war, he moved to Kassel and joined the USPD, and then the Spartakusbund.
Finster, Ramon, 1944-1996
A founding member of the French ORA, anarchist militant, artist, writer, animator of cultural and artistic events.
The Butte aux Cailles in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, lies south of the Seine. It is one of the least known old neighbourhoods of the French capital, like its working class cousins north of the river – Batignolles, Belleville and Menilmontant. The Butte rises gently beside the now subterranean course of Paris’s forgotten river the Bievre.
