biographies

Greenberg, Yiddelle 1909-194?

Ed — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:18:17 +0000

A salute to a comrade,

Rogdaev, Nikolai 188?-1932 aka Uncle Vanya

Battlescarred — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 14:02:14 +0000

Nikolai Ignatievich Rogdaev (Muzil) aka Uncle Vanya 188?-1932

Borrell, Federico 1912-1936

Battlescarred — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 12:44:51 +0000

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

Battlescarred — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:24:20 +0000

Fred Dunn 1884-1925

Michaelis, Margaret born Margaret Gross

Battlescarred — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:07:04 +0000

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.

Gorelik, Grigorii aka Anatolii, 1889-1956

Battlescarred — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Grigorii Gorelik, usually known as Anatolii Gorelik was born into a Jewish family in 1889. He became an anarchist in 1904, at the age of fourteen. He was active in the Ukraine, and was arrested several times by the Tsarist police.

Wess, Woolf, 1861-1946

Battlescarred — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 18:17:00 +0000

“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.

Yarchuk, Efim, 1882 or 1886-1937

Battlescarred — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:50:30 +0000

Yarchuk, Efim Zakharovich aka Khaim Zakharev - Also rendered as Yarchook, Yartchuk, Iarchuk etc.

“a man who enjoyed exceptional influence among the sailors and workers and whose idealism and devotion are matters of historic record” - My Disillusionment in Russia. Emma Goldman

Berner, Rudolf, 1907-1977

Battlescarred — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 13:44:46 +0000

Berner, Rudolf (Rube) AKA Frank Tireur

Born on 14 July 1907 in Skövde (West Sweden), Rudolf Berner grew up in a small farmer and working-class family of many children. He attended school and learned painting and crafts.

Timmermann, Claus, 1866-1941

Battlescarred — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 10:49:56 +0000

“An ardent German anarchist…He had considerable poetic talent and wrote forceful propaganda…He was a likeable fellow and entirely trustworthy, though a considerable drinker”. - Living My Life. Emma Goldman

Estorach, Soledad

Battlescarred — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:05:34 +0000

Soledad Estorach Esteri was born on the 6th February 1915 at the small village of Albatarrech near Lerida.

Silva Cruz, Maria, 1915-1936

Battlescarred — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 17:43:25 +0000

Maria was born into a family of day labourers and charcoal burners in the impoverished village of Casas Viejas in Andalucia on 20 April 1915.

Her father Juan Silva Gonzalez and her uncle Jeronimo were in the CNT. Her grandmother read anarchist novels out loud to her as a young girl.

Jahn, Octave aka Octavio 1869-1917

Battlescarred — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:00:39 +0000

“A fervent propagandist of libertarian communism” - Max Nettlau

“A prototype even of the young anarchist of the heroic period of the movement” - Gaetano Manfredonia

Octave Jahn was born on 10 February 1869 in Cherbourg, France.

Eisenhauer, Theodor, 1850s/1860s?-1882

Battlescarred — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:58:51 +0000

Theodor Franz Eisenhauer was born in Luckau, in Brandenburg state in Germany.

He was one of the most committed and dedicated activists of the early German anarchist movement. He was a supporter of Johann Most and was associated with Peter Kropotkin in Switzerland in 1879.

Pfemfert, Franz aka Und Gaday 1879-1954

Battlescarred — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:49:30 +0000

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

Battlescarred — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:47:00 +0000

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.

Matiushenko, Afanasy Nikolaevich 1879-1907

Battlescarred — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 11:09:13 +0000

Afanasy Nikolaevich Matiushenko
Also spelled Afanasiy Matyushenko, born 1879 - Kharkov, Russia, died 20 October 1907 - Sevastopol, Russia

The Potemkin mutineer
Afanasy Matiushenko was the son of peasants from Kharkov province in the Ukraine. He was born in 1879, in the village of Dergachi. His father had to give up the unrewarding work of farming to become a shoemaker.

Salamé Miro, José, 1920-2007

Battlescarred — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:56:32 +0000

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

Battlescarred — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:39:02 +0000

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

Battlescarred — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:30:22 +0000

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.