Henri Chazé (23 February 1904, in

Chazé-Henry Chazé-Henry () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Ombrée d'Anjou.French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. He was born Gaston Davoust in Chazé-Henry, whose name he reversed to form his pseudonym. His father, Eugène Davoust, was 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 ...

railway worker active in his union. He was an advocate of the

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large co ...

as advocated by Émile Pouget. When Henri was six, his father participated in a major strike by railway workers for weekly rest periods and a better pension. The strike was broken by troops taking over the depots and Eugène was sacked. The family was thrown on hard times and survived by his mother making corsets. His father was also an ardent

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

, as were his grandfather and brother, all affiliated to the Grand Orient of France. However, Henri found the initiation rituals degrading and the environment an example of the sort of organisation where men drawn from all sorts of classes would mix, creating opportunities for both the socially ambitious and spies of the Deuxième Bureau.

Union Communiste

He was a founder member of

Union Communiste Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

in 1933 and became the editor of their journal ''L'Internationale''.

Works

* ''Pannekoek et les Conseils ouvriers'' (1962) * ''La Révolution et la Guerre d’Espagne'' (1970) * H. Chazé, ''Chronique de la Révolution espagnole, Union communiste (1933-1939)'', éditions Spartacus, Paris, 1979. * ''Militantisme et responsabilité'', Echanges et mouvement, Paris 2004
Présentation d'Henri Simon, texte et en annexe « Le crime des bagnes nazis : le peuple allemand est-il coresponsable ?Extrait en ligne
* Gaston Davoust (H. Chazé)

Franche-Comté Libération, 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaze, Henri 1904 births 1984 deaths French communists