Louis Armand Matha (1861–1930) was a French anarchist involved in multiple Parisian newspapers, including over a decade as the manager of ''
Le Libertaire''.
Life
Louis Armand Matha was born April 10, 1861, in
Casteljaloux
Casteljaloux (; oc, Castèlgelós) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France.
See also
*Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department
The following is a list of the 319 communes of the French department of Lot-et-Gar ...
, France. His parents were
Bonapartists. He did not attend school and taught himself to read. Matha was, in turns, a
Gambettist, a
Blanquist, and an
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
. He became a hairdresser, whereupon he met
Sébastien Faure
Sébastien Faure (6 January 1858 – 14 July 1942) was a French anarchist, freethought and secularist activist and a principal proponent of synthesis anarchism.
Biography
Before becoming a free-thinker, Faure was a seminarist. He engaged ...
in 1887, prior to his fame. The pair traveled together.
Matha began work in Paris in 1891, assisting in
Jean Grave
Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in the French anarchist and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodica ...
's ''
La Révolte
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...
'' and managing several other publications. He served a prison sentence for "incitement to murder" in 1892. Matha lived in London in 1893 to avoid repression. He was involved with
Émile Henry and knew in advance of his attack. Matha was arrested following an April 1894 explosion at the Foyot restaurant but ultimately was not connected to the event. He was named and acquitted in the August 1894
Trial of the Thirty.
He participated in the founding of Faure's ''
Le Libertaire'' in 1895 and managed its activities through 1911, during which time he lived in relative poverty. He was sentenced to prison for 20 days in 1896 in relation to his role with the paper. Matha also joined Faure in founding ''
Le Journal du peuple'' in 1899, which Matha also ran before managing the monthly ''Les Hommes de Révolution'' through mid-1900. During the
Dreyfus affair, Matha was an ardent
Dreyfusard. He also helped to organize
Louise Michel's funeral.
In what was later known as the "Matha affair", the French police attempted to link ''Le Libertaire'' with a group of counterfeiters in 1907 after having found a single box of counterfeiting material stored in the publication's offices. Matha and four others were charged. The
advocate general withdrew the case against Matha for poor evidence but two from the group were ultimately sentenced and fined. Matha was acquitted in a 1910 trial for incitement to murder and disobedience after he signed a poster for justice in the Aernoult–Rousset affair.
In 1911, Matha lived with Laurentine Sauvraz in Paris. They operated a neo-Malthusian bookstore and sold contraceptives.
During World War I, Matha enlisted as a military nurse but ultimately turned towards pacifism. After the war, he moved with Sauvraz to
Draveil where he was active in the school and activities for children.
Matha died on February 12, 1930, in Draveil. He was buried in
Père-Lachaise Cemetery.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matha, Armand
1861 births
1930 deaths
French anarchists
People from Paris
People from Draveil
French hairdressers