François Dumartheray | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1842-01-27)27 January 1842 |
| Died | 8 September 1931(1931-09-08) (aged 89) |
| Years active | 1868-1880 |
| Movement | Anarchist communism |
François Dumartheray (1842-1931) was a French anarcho-communist activist. He was a member of theInternational Workingmen's Association and theJura Federation, and collaborated withPeter Kropotkin in the journalLe Révolté.
François Dumartheray was born inSavoy, into a poor peasant family. Having only received a primary school education, he worked as awaiter in a cafe and later as a salesman.[1]
He joined theIcarians ofL'Avenir inLyon,[2] where a local branch of theInternational Workingmen's Association (IWA) was established in 1868. On 13 March 1870, Dumartheray was elected as a member of the federal commission of the IWA. In May 1870, he was arrested for his participation in the IWA, but was amnestied following the proclamation of theFrench Third Republic. He took refuge inGeneva,Switzerland, where he was elected to the Congress of theJura Federation in September 1873. At the Congress, he proposed that onlymanual labourers would be permitted to join the International.[1]
In February 1876, Dumartheray published the pamphletAux travailleurs manuels partisans de l'action politique, in which he advocated for "anarchist communism" - in the first documented use of the term.[1][2][3][4] Along withÉlisée Reclus, Dumartheray promoted the adoption of anarchist communism by theAnti-Authoritarian International, quickly gaining support from theItalian anarchists.[5][6] In August 1877, he returned to France in disguise and using the pseudonym "Versoix", in order to participate in the constitution of a French anti-authoritarian federation at a congress inLa Chaux-de-Fonds. During the1877 French legislative election, Dumartheray published the federation'sabstentionist manifesto. In 1878, his paperAvante-Garde was shut down and he returned to Geneva, where he,Peter Kropotkin and Georges Herzig founded the newspaperLe Révolté in February 1879.[1]
By this time, a split had ruptured the International, ascollectivists from Spain anddemocratic socialists from Belgium rejected the anarchist communist approach.[7] Anarchist communism was finally adopted by at Jura Federation's congress of 1880, in the last act of the International.[8] That year, Dumartheray was offered amnesty by the French government ofJules Grévy, but he decided not to return to France and largely ceased political activities. He remained in Geneva until 1927. He died and was cremated on 8 September 1931.[1]
