Alfred Rosmer (born Alfred Griot, 23 August 1877 – 6 May 1964) was an American-born French Communist political activist and historian who was a leading member of the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

. Rosmer is best remembered as a political associate of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

and a memoirist.

Early life

Alfred Griot was born in 1877 in

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Rosmer from the hero of a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

.Reiner Tosstorf, ''The Red International of Labour Unions (RILU) 1930-1937.

016 HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist". ...

Ben Fowkes, trans. Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2018; pg. 858. Rosmer was a

syndicalist Syndicalism is a revolutionary current within the left-wing of the labor movement that seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes with the eventual goal of gaining control over the means of pr ...

leader before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, active in the

Confédération générale du travail The General Confederation of Labour (french: Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is t ...

(CGT), the French general federation of unions. Together with

Pierre Monatte Pierre Monatte (15 January 188127 June 1960) was a French trade unionist, a founder of the ''Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT, Generation Confederation of Labour) at the beginning of the 20th century, and founder of its journal ''La Vi ...

, he issued a journal called ''La Vie ouvrière'' (Worker's Life), which was terminated as a result of French entry into

.Tosstorff, ''The Red International of Labour Unions,'' pg. 94. The antiwar French syndicalists had been represented at the

Zimmerwald Conference The Zimmerwald Conference was held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 to 8, 1915. It was the first of three international socialist conferences convened by anti-militarist socialist parties from countries that were originally neutral d ...

in 1915 and then organised as the Committee for the Resumption of International Relations in which Rosmer participated. After the end of the war, a strike wave swept France in which the syndicalists played an active role. ''La Vie ouvrière'' was resurrected by Rosmer and Monatte in March 1919. In May 1919, Rosmer and

Fernand Loriot Fernand Loriot (10 October 1870 – 12 October 1932) was a French teacher who was active in forming the teachers' union. He took a pacifist stance during World War I. He was one of the founders of the French Communist Party. Early years Loriot was ...

transformed the former Committee for the Resumption of International Relations into a new organization, known as the Committee for Adhesion to the Third International. The group remained isolated and without significant influence, however, largely removed from active communication with Moscow.Carr, ''The Bolshevik Revolution, 1917-1923,'' vol. 3, pg. 142. A friendship with

dated from that period, when the latter was briefly living in

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 ...

Communist Party leader

After the war, he became a leading figure in the

Communist Party of France The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Unit ...

(PCF). He was sent to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1920 as a representative of the French left, being assigned there to positions in the

Communist International The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...

(Comintern) and the

Red International of Labor Unions The Red International of Labor Unions (russian: Красный интернационал профсоюзов, translit=Krasnyi internatsional profsoyuzov, RILU), commonly known as the Profintern, was an international body established by the Comm ...

(RILU). In 1923 and 1924 Rosmer was one of the top leaders of the PCF, until his expulsion in the fall of 1924 along with

Boris Souvarine Boris Souvarine (1 November 1895 – 1 November 1984), also known as Varine, was a French Marxist, communist activist, essayist and journalist. A founding member of the French Communist Party, Souvarine is noted for being the only non-Russian com ...

and Monatte for opposing the organised campaign against Trotsky.

Trotskyism

After his expulsion from the PCF, Rosmer helped found the journal ''La Révolutuion prolétarienne'' (The Proletarian Revolution) and participated in political activities in a circle organised around this magazine. He became the only member of the group to establish the first

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

movement in 1929, but he left it in 1931 because of differences over political tactics. Nevertheless, he remained a convinced revolutionary, and his friendship with Trotsky was later repaired. He visited the exiled Trotsky in Mexico in 1939. In Mexico, Rosmer was a member of the

Dewey Commission The Dewey Commission (officially the "Commission of Inquiry into the Charges Made against Leon Trotsky in the Moscow Trials") was initiated in March 1937 by the American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky. It was named after its chairman, the ...

, which cleared Trotsky of all charges made during the

Moscow Trials The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of th ...

.Dewey Commission Report
/ref>

Later life

Unable to return to France because of the outbreak of

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 ...

, Rosmer, an American by birth, lived in the United States after his Mexican interlude. He finally obtained permission to return home in 1947. Rosmer published an autobiography detailing his activities in Soviet Russia as well as a two-volume history of the antiwar movement in France during the years of World War I. Rosmer died in 1964.

Works

In French

* ''La Conférence de Zimmerwald'' (The Zimmerwald Conference). Paris: Imp. spéciale de la "Vie ouvrière", 1915. * ''Un coup d'oeil en arrière: Pierre Monatte. Lettre de démission au Comité confédéral (décembre 1914). Alfred Rosmer. Première lettre aux abonnés de la "Vie ouvrière" (novembre 1915). La Circulaire de lancement de la "Vie ouvrière" (avril 1919).'' (A Look Back: Pierre Monatte, Letter of Resignation to the Confederation Committee (Dec. 1914). Alfred Rosmer, First Letter to Subscribes of the "Vie ouvrière." The Circular launching "Vie ouvrière," April 1919.) Paris: Éditions de la Bibliothèque du travail, 1921. * ''Le mouvement ouvrier pendant la guerre.'' (The Labor Movement during the War). In two volumes. Paris: Librairie du travail, 1936. —Reissued as ''Le mouvement ouvrier pendant la Première guerre mondiale.'' * ''Moscou sous Lenine'' (Moscow Under Lenin). In two volumes. Paris : Maspero, 1970.

English translations

* ''Moscow Under Lenin.'' New York: Monthly Review Press, 1972. —Reissued as ''Lenin's Moscow.'' * ''From Syndicalism to Trotskyism: Writings of Alfred and Marguerite Rosmer.'' With Marguerite Rosmer. London: Porcupine Press/Socialist Platform, 2000. * ''Trotsky and the Origins of Trotskyism.'' London: Francis Boutle, 2002.

Footnotes

External links

''Alfred Rosmer Internet Archive,''
Marxists Internet Archive, www.marxists.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Rosmer, Alfred 1877 births People from Paterson, New Jersey French Communist Party members French Trotskyists Executive Committee of the Communist International French syndicalists 1964 deaths