Anarchists

9 January 1905 The Divine Life of Louise Michel

Born on this day in 1830, at the dawn of an extraordinary revolutionary age, Louise Michel was the Transcendent Revolutionary – an extraordinary French woman whose ideals and displays of generosity to the Parisian poor existed at such a hands-on … Continue reading

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30th July 2006 the Death of Murray Bookchin

Today we pay tribute to one of the great thinkers of the twentieth century – social critic, anarchist, utopian and eco-pioneer, Murray Bookchin – who died on this day in 2006 aged 85. For twenty-five years, he was the most prominent American … Continue reading

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6th July 1934 the Death of Nestor Makhno

Today we recall the Ukrainian revolutionary leader, Nestor Makhno, who died on this day in 1934 in poverty, illness and oblivion. Fellow exiles who’d watched Makhno drink and cough himself to death in the slums of Paris could scarcely believe … Continue reading

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1st July 1876 the Death of Mikhail Bakunin

Today we contemplate the extraordinary life and legacy of Mikhail Bakunin, the revolutionary colossus and leading spirit of 19th-century anarchism who on this day in 1876 died in poverty and defeat at the age of sixty-two. Out-manoeuvred and out-cast from the … Continue reading

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28th June 1936  the Death of Alexander Berkman

On this day in 1936, Alexander Berkman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Suffering from poor health and broken dreams, it was a sad and discomfiting end to the noble life of this seemingly inexorable revolutionary who, … Continue reading

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27th June 1905 the Founding of the Industrial Workers of the World

On June 27th 1905, a couple of hundred anarchists, socialists and vagabond activists gathered in a hall in Chicago for what would later become known as the First Annual Convention of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Like activists … Continue reading

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22nd June 1939 the Death of Benjamin Tucker

Not with any spectacular knock-out blow did today’s subject achieve his legacy in the pantheon of American anarchist luminaries. He wasn’t a “propaganda-by-the-deed” anti-hero like Alexander Berkman; nor was he an inspiring, fiery, superstar orator like Emma Goldman. Despite being … Continue reading

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20th June 1912 the Death of Voltairine de Cleyre

Today we pay tribute to an extraordinary frontierswoman and freethinker, Voltairine de Cleyre, who on this day in 1912 died as she had lived: “a free spirit, an Anarchist, owing no allegiance to rulers, heavenly or earthly.” A leading luminary … Continue reading

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28th May 1871  Defeat of the Paris Commune

Today we lament the unfathomably brutal suppression of the first proletarian revolution in history, the Paris Commune. Just three months earlier, on 18th March 1871, the workers of Paris rose up, seized power from the new provisional French government, declared … Continue reading

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14th May 1940 the Death of Emma Goldman

Today we celebrate the extraordinary life of an extraordinary woman – orator, writer, agitator, firebrand and revolutionary anarchist – Emma Goldman. Known as “Red Emma,” “the mother of anarchy in America” and “the most dangerous woman in the world,” she … Continue reading

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4th May 1886 the Haymarket Affair

Today we recall the Haymarket Affair – the most sensational American labour incident of the 19th century, whose legacy even today continues to surreptitiously reverberate. What began as a nationwide movement for the 8-hour work day on 1st May ignited just a few … Continue reading

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2nd May 1919 the Death of Gustav Landauer

Today we are remembering one of the great lost thinkers of the twentieth century – Gustav Landauer – German Jewish anarchist, philosopher and “prophet of community” who, on this day in 1919, was brutally murdered by counter-revolutionary soldiers who overthrew the … Continue reading

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12th April 1989 the Revolutionary Suicide of Abbie Hoffman

Today we commemorate everyone’s favourite Groucho Marxist – the radical activist, Abbie Hoffman. Co-founder of the Yippies and author of Steal This Book and Revolution for the Hell of It, Hoffman was one of the most colourful and iconic figures … Continue reading

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10th April 1919 the Death of Emiliano Zapata

Today we lament the death of the great Mexican revolutionary, natural anarchist and prophet ­– Emiliano Zapata – tragically betrayed and ambushed on this day in 1919 by federal forces after an heroic 9-year struggle to bring self-reliance and autonomy … Continue reading

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8th April 2010 the Death of Malcolm McLaren

Today we pay tribute to that uproarious lord of mischief, Malcolm McLaren, who popped his clogs 8 years ago today. What more can be said of this tiresome entrepreneurial maverick haberdasher who practiced his trade in the dying embers of … Continue reading

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18th March 1871 the Paris Commune Begins

Today marks the anniversary of the formation of the Paris Commune – the first successful seizure of power by the working class. Facing Prussian invasion forces on one side and French troops mobilised against its own citizens on the other, … Continue reading

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7th March 1942  the Death of Lucy Parsons

Today we pay tribute to one of the great figures in the battle for working class rights – a woman whose impact was so powerful that the Chicago Police Department branded  her “more dangerous than a thousand rioters.” As a … Continue reading

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8th February 1921 the Death of Peter Kropotkin

Today we salute one of the turn-of-the-century’s great revolutionary heroes, Peter Alexeyevich Kropotkin. Born into extraordinary wealth and nobility – a Russian prince, no less – Kropotkin surrendered his birthright and all that came with it for the life of … Continue reading

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19th January 1865 the Death of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

Let us cast our mind back to this day in 1865 to remember the death (at the age of 56) and celebrate the life of the world’s first anarchist. Actually, it’s probably stretching things a little to describe Pierre-Joseph Proudhon … Continue reading

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11th January 1943 The Assassination of Carlo Tresca

On this day in 1943, Carlo Tresca – Italian-American anarchist leader and thorn in the side of just about everyone  – was assassinated on the streets of New York City. One of the most colourful figures of the American labour … Continue reading

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1st January 1994 The Zapatista Uprising

On the first day of 1994, 3,000 indigenous Mayan Indian guerrillas came down from the mountains of the southern province of Chiapas and declared war against the Mexican government. The insurgents – representing some of the poorest and most exploited … Continue reading

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20th November 1936 the Death of Buenaventura Durruti

Buenaventura Durruti

Today we remember the inspirational life of the anarchist military leader, Buenaventura Durruti, who died on this day 1936 in a mysterious and hotly disputed shooting accident. For although his death occurred a mere four months into the Spanish Civil … Continue reading

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17th November 1947 the Death of Victor Serge

Today in 1947, the life-long revolutionary Victor Serge collapsed and died in Mexico City at the age of 57. His health had broken down after many years spent in prison and imposed exile under regimes of various nationalities and political … Continue reading

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13th October 1909 the Execution of Francisco Ferrer

The execution of Catalan anarchist and educator Francisco Ferrer, on this day in 1909, was not punishment for the crime of which he had been accused. That the charges against him were fabricated is not in any doubt. Rather, his … Continue reading

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7th September 1872 Bakunin Gets the Boot

Though it is almost impossible to imagine, in light of where Stalin and Mao took their respective communist countries, less than a century before their totalitarian regimes took power, anarchism stood side-by-side with communism as a genuine political consideration for … Continue reading

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23rd August 1927 the Execution of Sacco and Vanzetti

On this day in 1927, the American State murdered two Italian anarchists in the despicable ‘electric chair’, after the two lost their six-year battle to clear their names of a crime they most certainly did not commit – and despite … Continue reading

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17th August 1963 the Execution of Delgado & Granados

On this day in 1963, two young Spanish anarchists were executed by General Franco’s obscene regime for a Passport Office bombing of which they had no knowledge, while the real perpetrators slipped quietly away. Despite the absence of any evidence … Continue reading

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15th August 1889 The Meeting of Emma Goldman & Alexander Berkman

On this day in 1889, a fateful and momentous meeting of two exceptional minds occurred in a café in New York City’s Lower East Side. Like Wordsworth and Coleridge, or John and Yoko, the reaction between the two was instant … Continue reading

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8th August 1897 Michele Angiolillo’s Attentat

On this day in 1897, in the tiny Spanish spa town of Santa Agueda, Spain’s autocratic and much-hated prime minister Cánovas del Castillo was assassinated: gunned down as a final act of revenge by an Italian anarchist who could no … Continue reading

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