André Bösiger (born July 22, 1913 in

Perrefitte Perrefitte () is a municipality in the administrative district of Jura bernois in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). Its old German names Beffert and Pfeffert are no longer in ...

; died in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

on April 13, 2005) was a Swiss

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is a political philosophy and anarchist school of thought that views revolutionary industrial unionism or syndicalism as a method for workers in capitalist society to gain control of an economy and thus control influence in b ...

. An activist of the ''Building Action League'' in Geneva, he collaborated with the '' Réveil anarchiste'' and the International Center for Research on Anarchism (Lausanne).

Biography

A construction worker, he joined the ''Building Action League'' where he befriended the anarchists

Luigi Bertoni Luigi Bertoni (1872–1947) was an Italian-born anarchist writer and typographer. Bertoni fought on the Huesca front with Italian comrades during the Spanish Revolution and was, with Emma Goldman, one of the outspoken critics of anarchist ...

(editor of '' Il Risveglio anarchico'') and Lucien Tronchet. The ''Building Action League'' actively practiced

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

as well as helping unemployed people that were evicted from their homes. He also participated in the anarchist group of Geneva and took part in the activities of

freethought Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an epistemological viewpoint which holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma, and that beliefs should instead be reached by other methods ...

. On November 9, 1932, he took part in the demonstration to prevent the holding of a public conference of the National Union, a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

political party created by

Georges Oltramare Georges Oltramare (born 17 April 1896 in Geneva – died 16 August 1960 in Geneva) was a Swiss writer and fascist politician who became involved in collaboration in Nazi-occupied France. Born into a leading Geneva family, he obtained a ''demi-li ...

, in the communal hall of

Plainpalais Plainpalais is a neighbourhood in Geneva, Switzerland, and a former Municipalities of the canton of Geneva, municipality of the Canton of Geneva. It is mentioned in Mary Shelley's ''Frankenstein'' in chapter 6, volume 1. Argentine author Jorge ...

. A detachment of the

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (german: Schweizer Armee, french: Armée suisse, it, Esercito svizzero, rm, Armada svizra; ) operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, re ...

was called in as reinforcements for the maintenance of order, but it was inexperienced and poorly commanded. After several soldiers were assaulted and disarmed, the officers gave the order to open fire, killing thirteen people and injuring 65 others. Among the victims of the shooting was Bösiger's best friend, Melchior Allemann. Convicted twice for insubordination to the army, Bösiger served a first sentence of two months in 1934, then another of sixteen months which ended in March 1937. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

, he procured arms for the companions of the CNT and took charge of orphans, and was expelled from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for these actions. Dismissed for “union activity”, he became a poacher, then supplied the ''

maquis Maquis may refer to: Resistance groups * Maquis (World War II), predominantly rural guerrilla bands of the French Resistance * Spanish Maquis, guerrillas who fought against Francoist Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War * The network ...

'' of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1957, he participated in the founding of the International Center for Research on Anarchism (CIRA) in

. During the

Algerian War The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

, he hosted separatists and rebels from the French army. On July 19, 1990, he lost his partner and fellow anarchist activist Ruth Bösiger.

Works

* ''Souvenirs d'un rebelle'', Canevas éditeur, 1992. * ''Souvenirs d’un rebelle - Soixante ans de lutte d’un libertaire jurassien'', with the collaboration of Alexandre Skirda, text presented by Marianne Enckell and Ariane Miéville, illustrations by Jean-Pierre Ducret, Atelier de création libertaire, 2017, , présentation éditeur
/small>.

References

External links

Site boesiger.ch

* ttp://direct.perso.ch/boesiger.html André Bösiger 1913 - 2005 * André Bösiger, souvenirs d'un rebelle. Entretien radio en compagnie de quelques compagnons
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Biography

Works

References

Further reading

Bibliography

Filmography

Articles

External links