Constant Marie, known as Le Père Lapurge (17 August 1838 – 5 August 1910) was a French communard, shoemaker, anarchist and poet. He was the author of several popular revolutionary songs.

Early years

Constant Marie was born on 27 August 1838 in Sainte-Houvrince,

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

. He began work as a bricklayer. He participated in the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

, and was wounded in the fighting at the

Vanves Vanves () is a Communes of France, commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe and the tenth in France. History On ...

fort.

Anarchist shoemaker and songwriter

Due to his injuries Constant Marie was forced to change occupation to become a shoemaker. He became an anarchist and began to compose revolutionary songs. Within twelve years of the fall of the commune in 1871, Constant Marie's songs had become very popular in some circles. Constant Marie often performed at festivities of anarchist groups. He came to the attention of the police, who searched his house on 1 July 1894 and seized books and the texts of his songs. He was arrested and charged with "membership of a criminal conspiracy." He spent several weeks in the

Mazas Prison The Mazas Prison (French: ''Prison Mazas'') was a prison in Paris, France. Designed by architects Émile Gilbert and Jean-François-Joseph Lecointe, it was inaugurated in 1850 and located near the Gare de Lyon The Gare de Lyon, officially Pa ...

before his conditional release, and remained under police surveillance until 1905. As a young man the anarchist, journalist and then Communist activist Fernand Desprès (1879–1949) worked as a shoemaker with Constant Marie. Constant Marie died on 5 August 1910.

Works

''Le Père Lapurge'' ("Father Purge") was published in 1886 in the

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

anarchist newspaper ''La Révolte des Affamés''. Constant Marie's other well-known songs included ''Dame dynamite'' and ''La Muse rouge''. This last gave its name in 1901 to a famous group of revolutionary poets and singers. By 1891 he was also known for ''Révolté'', ''Jacques normand'', ''Tocsin'' and ''Affranchie''. His songs continued to be performed in cabarets after the turn of the century.

References

Sources

* * * * A slightly shorter version of this article was found on 2015-02-03 in th
Dictionnaire des militants anarchistes
dated 28 February 2007, signed "R.D.", and giving sources.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marie, Constant 1838 births 1910 deaths French poets French anarchists Communards