Nick Heath
British anarchist-communist and thorough documenter of the international anarchist movement.
Pfemfert, Franz aka Und Gaday 1879-1954
A short biography of Franz Pfemfert, revolutionary, publisher, editor of Die Aktion
Franz Pfemfert was born in the east Prussian town of Loetzen (today called Gizycko in Poland) on 20 November 1879. Soon after his birth his family moved to Berlin and Franz attended Joachimsthal High school.
Texidor, Greville, 1902- 1964 and Werner Droescher 1911-1978
Short biographies of Greville Texidor and Werner Droescher who both fought with the Spanish anarchist militias.
Greville Texidor was born in 1902 at Wolverhampton, the daughter of William Arthur Foster and Editha Greville Prideaux. Her father, a barrister, committed suicide in 1920 due to a scandal. Her mother was an artist who had originally moved from Auckland in New Zealand to study art in London in 1895.
Salamé Miro, José, 1920-2007
A short biography of José Salamé Miro, militant of Spanish origin active in France and the Spanish Revolution.
José Salamé Miro was born in the small village of Vinebra in the Catalan province of Tarragona. His childhood was spent in Barcelona. His father was a saddler and sympathetic to the CNT, attending the libertarian ateneo of the neighbourhood. Jose was a choir boy as a child, but as he grew he started moving towards anarchist ideas. He became a member of the CNT and the Libertarian Youth (FIJL).
Schwab, Alexander aka Sachs, 1887 -1943
A short biography of council communist and organiser of underground networks, Alexander Schwab, who died in a Nazi concentration camp.
Born on the 5th July 1887, at Stuttgart, Alexander Schwab was the son of a choir master. He studied at the Universities of Rostock, Jena, Heidelberg and Freiburg in philosophy, ancient languages, political economy and sociology. He was a member of the Free Students movement.
Weiland, Alfred, 1906-1978
A short biography of council communist, organiser of underground network, Alfred Weiland, kidnapped by the East German state in the post war period
Alfred Weiland was born on 7th August 1906 in the Moabit district of Berlin. He apprenticed as a fitter. He later worked as a telegraph worker.
In 1925 he was for a short time a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) which in Berlin had a more “left” outlook than elsewhere. Soon after he joined the communist KAPD and AAU.
Ferrero, Pietro, 1892- 1922
A short biography of Pietro Ferrero who, with Maurizio Garino, was one of the anarchists at the head of the factory councils movement in Turin.
Pietro Ferrero was born at Grugliasco in Turin on 12th May 1892.
Garino, Maurizio, 1892-1977
A short biography of Maurizio Garino, one of the leading anarchist animators of the Italian factory council movement.
Maurizio Garino was born in November 1892, the son of Michele and Nicoletta Chiglioni in Ploaghe, Sardinia.
In 1895 the family moved to Turin and in 1900 to Cassine. After elementary school and a short stay in a religious school Maurizio became an apprentice carpenter and then a pattern-maker mechanic.
Del Papa, Ugo, 1875-1916
A short biography of Ugo Del Papa who was, with Alberto Meschi, one of the founders of anarchism in the marble town of Carrara in Italy.
Ugo Del Papa was, with Alberto Meschi, one of the founders of anarchism in the marble town of Carrara in Italy. He was born on 18th September 1875, the son of Romualdo and Lucia Pracchia. He became close to the anarchist movement from an early age. According to the police he was an enthusiastic “propagator of those criminal theories”.
Lefeuvre, René and Editions Spartacus
A history of Spartacus publishing in France, with biographical information about its founder, René Lefeuvre.
Born in Brittany in 1902, René Lefeuvre, started work at 16, his father teaching him his trade as an artisan mason.
Covelli, Emilio aka Mephistopheles, 1846 -1915
A short biography of pioneering Italian anarchist-communist Emilio Covelli.
Born in Trani into a family of wealthy aristocrats on 5th August 1846 Emilio was a classmate of Carlo Cafiero in Molfetta.
He studied for a law degree at the University of Naples in 1868 and then continued to study in Germany at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin. Here, according to Cafiero, he “tore off his bourgeois hide” and moved towards socialism.
