biographies
Biographies and autobiographies of key historical figures and thinkers, and ordinary people who have tried to change the world.
Fayolle, Maurice César, 19?-1970
A short biography of Maurice Fayolle, veteran social anarchist and founder of the French ORA.
”A discreet, modest, straightforward, scrupulous and honest man, little gifted for speeches but possessing an excellent pen” Maurice Laisant.
Granach, Alexander, 1890-1945
A short biography of Alexander Granach, anarchist and famous actor in German and Hollywood cinema.
Born April 18, 1890, Werbiwici, East Galicia (now Ukraine). Died March 14, 1945, New York, USA.
Guerra, Armand, 1886-1939
Typesetter, film maker, scenario write, actor and anarchist active within the movement in Spain and internationally.
Born 4 January 1886, Liria, Spain. Died 10 March 1939, Saint Mande, France.
Armand Guerra was born Jose Estivalis Cabo at Liria near Valencia on 4th January 1886, the son of a farmer and of a mother who was already looking after a child of 5 years. First as a choirboy and then as a pupil at a seminary in Valencia, he developed an intense hatred for the Church.
Kavanagh, Mat, 1876-1954
A short biography of Mat Kavanagh, Liverpool-Irish class struggle anarchist.
“For the young anarchists of the 30s, of whom I was one, and right until the 50s, Mat was our link with the traditional working class Anarchism of the past and our mentor as no other” - Albert Meltzer
Greenberg, Yiddelle 1909-194?
Biography of Polish anarchist Yiddelle Greenberg, whose activity was crucial in the formation of the Polish anarchist movement.
A salute to a comrade,
Rogdaev, Nikolai 1880-1932 aka Uncle Vanya
.JPG "Nikolai Rogdaev")
A short biography of Nikolai Rogdaev, trailblazer of Russian anarchism.
Born Nikolai Ignatievich Muzil in 1880 in the village of Silkino near Klin to the north of Moscow, into a family of nobility with Austrian origins.In the 1890s he became active in the revolutionary movement, joining the Riazan group of Social-Revolutionaries and also contacting a circle of Social-Democrats. In May 1900 he came to the notice of the Tsarist police.
Borrell, Federico 1912-1936
Short biography of Spanish anarchist Federico Borrell, made famous by the iconic photo The Fallen Soldier by Robert Capa.
Federico Borrell Garcia was born in Benilloba in Alicante, Spain on April 3 1912.
The son of Vicente Borrell and Maria Garcia, he was one of a large family with 3 brothers and 2 sisters, who lived in poverty-stricken conditions.
Dunn, Fred 1884-1925
A short biography of English anarchist Fred Dunn, active opponent of the First World War.
Fred William Dunn was the son of Edwin Dunn, leading light in the Rose Street Club in Soho (Rose Street is now Manette Street). Edwin had been elected secretary of the Marylebone Radical Reform Association at a founding meeting chaired by Joe Lane. He was the initiator for an independent labour party alongside H. M.
Michaelis, Margaret born Margaret Gross
A short biography of modernist photographer and anarchist Margaret Michaelis 1902-1985.
Margaret Michaelis’s prowess as a photographer has been hidden away until recently. Recent exhibitions in Canberra, Australia in 1988 and 2005 and in Valencia, Spain in 2005 have begun to dispel this cloud of obscurity.
Wess, Woolf, 1861-1946
A short biography of Jewish anarchist Woolf, aka William, Wess, active in the Socialist League in East London.
“He was the most modest of men” - Rudolf Rocker
Woolf Wess was born to a Jewish family in Vilkomar (or Ukmerge) near Kovno in Lithuania in 1861.
He was the son of a Hasidic master baker and at age of 12 was apprenticed to a shoemaker.
