''Histoire de la Commune de 1871'' () is a history of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...

Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray Hippolyte-Prosper-Olivier "Lissa" Lissagaray (Toulouse, November 24, 1838 – Paris, January 25, 1901) was a literary animator and speaker, a Republican journalist and a French revolutionary socialist. He is known for his '' History of the Paris ...

. Published in 1876, it is the event's definitive eyewitness assessment. It was later translated into English and German.

Publication

Lissagaray participated in the Paris Commune and, in popular myth, had been called the "last man on the barricades". Exiled in London after the fall, Lissagaray started on his history. He first published a short sketch of what would become his ''Histoire'' at the end of 1871, entitled ''Les huit journée de mai derrière les barricades'', with Le Petit Journal in Brussels. It was first published by Henry Kistemaeckers in 1876. Lissagaray's father-in-law,

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, was a strong advocate for the work's translation into German and pursued a potential simultaneous release in the language. Marx considered the book the "first authentic" account of the event and was involved in vetting the German translator despite previously having ill will towards Lissagaray. After reviewing a sample translation, they chose Isolde Kurz for the German translation. The book was translated and released in German in 1878 and republished in 1891 and 1894. The English translation released in 1886. Its translator,

Eleanor Marx Jenny Julia Eleanor Marx (16 January 1855 – 31 March 1898), sometimes called Eleanor Aveling and known to her family as Tussy, was the English-born youngest daughter of Karl Marx. She was herself a socialist activist who sometimes worked as a ...

, and Lissagaray were previously engaged. After publishing the book, Lissagaray was estimated to have worked on revising the book with new research, material, and writing for the next 25 years. His definitive edition was released in 1898. Lissagaray died in 1901.

Legacy

''Histoires'' became the definitive eyewitness assessment of the Paris Commune. Lissagaray became known for the work.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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English full text
{{Portal bar, Books, History, France 1876 non-fiction books French-language books Works about the Paris Commune