Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and political activist, notable for his revolutionary theory of Blanquism.

Biography

Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848)

Blanqui was born in Puget-Théniers,

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; oc, Aups Maritims; it, Alpi Marittime, "Maritime Alps") is a department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the Italian border and Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, it ...

, where his father, Jean Dominique Blanqui, of Italian descent, was subprefect. He was the younger brother of the liberal economist

Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui (; November 21, 1798 – January 28, 1854) was a French economist. His most important contributions were made in labour economics, economic history and especially the history of economic thought, in which field his 1837 tr ...

. He studied both law and medicine, but found his real vocation in politics, and quickly became a champion of the most advanced opinions. A member of the Carbonari society since 1824, he took an active part in most republican

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

during this period. In 1827, under the reign of Charles X (1824–1830), he participated in a street fight in Rue Saint-Denis, during which he was seriously injured. In 1829, he joined

Pierre Leroux Pierre Henri Leroux (7 April 1797 – 12 April 1871), was a French philosopher and political economist. He was born at Bercy, now a part of Paris, the son of an artisan. Life His education was interrupted by the death of his father, which com ...

's ''Globe'' newspaper before taking part in the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (french: révolution de Juillet), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after the first in 1789. It led to the overthrow of King ...

of 1830. He then joined the ''

Amis du Peuple Amis may refer to: * Amis (surname) * Amis people (or ''Amis''), a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines * Amis language, an indigenous language of Taiwan * AMIS (ISP), an Internet service provider (ISP) in Slovenia and Croatia * Amis et Amiles, an old Fre ...

'' ("Friends of the People") society, where he made acquaintances with

Philippe Buonarroti :''See also Filippo Buonarroti (1661–1733).'' Filippo Giuseppe Maria Ludovico Buonarroti, more usually referred to under the French version Philippe Buonarroti (11 November 1761 – 16 September 1837), was an Italian utopian socialist, wri ...

, Raspail, and

Armand Barbès Armand Barbès (18 September 1809 – 26 June 1870) was a French Republican revolutionary and an opponent of the July monarchy (1830–1848). He is remembered as a man whose life centers on two days: * ''12 May 1839'', the day of the uprising ...

. He was condemned to repeated terms of imprisonment for maintaining the doctrine of

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

during the reign of

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary War ...

(1830–1848). During the 1832 trial of the '' Amis du People'' at the cour d'assis in Paris Blanqui declared, "You have confiscated the rifles of July--yes. But the bullets have been fired. Every bullet of the workers of Paris is on its way round the world." In May 1839, a Blanquist inspired uprising took place in Paris, in which the League of the Just, forerunners of

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 ...

Communist League The Communist League (German: ''Bund der Kommunisten)'' was an international political party established on 1 June 1847 in London, England. The organisation was formed through the merger of the League of the Just, headed by Karl Schapper, and the ...

, participated. Implicated in the armed outbreak of the Société des Saisons, of which he was a leading member, Blanqui was condemned to death on 14 January 1840, a sentence later commuted to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

Release, revolutions and further imprisonment (1848–1879)

He was released during the

revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

, only to resume his attacks on existing institutions. The revolution had not satisfied him. The violence of the ''Société républicaine centrale'', which was founded by Blanqui to demand a change of government, brought him into conflict with the more moderate Republicans, and in 1849 he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. While in prison, he sent a brief address (written in the Prison of Belle-Ile-en-Mer, 10 February 1851) to a committee of social democrats in London. The text of the address was noted and introduced by

. In 1865, while serving a further term of imprisonment under the Empire, he escaped, and continued his

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

campaign against the government from abroad, until the general amnesty of 1869 enabled him to return to France. Blanqui's predilection for violence was illustrated in 1870 by two unsuccessful armed demonstrations: one on 12 January at the funeral of

Victor Noir Victor Noir (27 July 1848 – 11 January 1870) was a French journalist. After he was shot and killed by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, a cousin of the French Emperor Napoleon III (), Noir became a symbol of opposition to the imperial regime. His t ...

, the journalist shot by

Pierre Bonaparte Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

; the other on 14 August, when he led an attempt to seize some guns from a barracks. Upon the fall of the Empire, through the revolution of 4 September, Blanqui established the club and journal ''La patrie en danger''. Louis Auguste Blanqui

He was one of the group that briefly seized the reins of power on 31 October and for his share in that outbreak he was again condemned to death '' in absentia'' on 9 March of the following year. On 17 March,

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( , ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian. He was the second elected President of France and first President of the French Third Republic. Thiers was a key figure in the July Rev ...

, aware of the threat represented by Blanqui, took advantage of his resting at a friend physician's place, in Bretenoux in

Lot Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to: Common meanings Areas * Land lot, an area of land * Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale togethe ...

, and had him arrested. A few days afterwards the insurrection which established 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 ...

broke out, and Blanqui was elected president of the insurgent commune. The Communards offered to release all of their prisoners if the Thiers government released Blanqui, but their offer was met with refusal, and Blanqui was thus prevented from taking an active part.

would later be convinced that Blanqui was the leader that was missed by the Commune. Nevertheless, in 1872 he was condemned along with the other members of the Commune to

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

; on account of his broken health this sentence was again commuted to one of imprisonment. On 20 April 1879 he was elected a deputy for

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

; although the election was pronounced invalid, Blanqui was freed, and immediately resumed his work of agitation.

Ideology

As a socialist, Blanqui favored what he described as a just

redistribution of wealth Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, confisc ...

. However, Blanquism is distinguished in various ways from other socialist currents of the day. On one side, contrary to Karl Marx, Blanqui did not believe in the preponderant role of the working class, nor in popular movements: he thought, on the contrary, that the revolution should be carried out by a small group, who would establish a temporary dictatorship by force. This period of transitional tyranny would permit the implementation of the basis of a new order, after which power would be handed to the people. In another respect, Blanqui was more concerned with the revolution itself than with the future society that would result from it: if his thought was based on precise socialist principles, it rarely goes so far as to imagine a society purely and really socialist. In this he differs from the

utopian socialists Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is often de ...

. For the Blanquists, the overturning of the bourgeois social order and the revolution are ends sufficient in themselves, at least for their immediate purposes. He was one of the non-Marxist socialists of his day.

Death

The grave of Auguste Blanqui, Pere La Chaise Cemetery, Paris

Following a speech at a political meeting in Paris, Blanqui had a stroke. He died on 1 January 1881 and was interred in the Père Lachaise Cemetery. His elaborate tomb was created by Jules Dalou.

Legacy

Blanqui's uncompromising radicalism, and his determination to enforce it by violence, brought him into conflict with every French government during his lifetime, and as a consequence, he spent half of his life in prison. Besides his innumerable contributions to journalism, he published a work entitled, ''L'Eternité par les astres'' (1872), where he espoused his views concerning eternal return. After his death his writings on economic and social questions were collected under the title of ''Critique sociale'' (1885). The Italian fascist newspaper ''

Il Popolo d'Italia ''Il Popolo d'Italia'' ("The People of Italy") was an Italian newspaper published from 15 November 1914 until 24 July 1943. It was founded by Benito Mussolini as a pro-war newspaper during World War I, and it later became the main newspaper of ...

'', founded and edited by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, had a quotation by Blanqui on its mast: ''Chi ha del ferro ha del pane'' ("He who has iron has bread"). Blanqui's political activism and his book ''L'Eternité par les astres'' were commented on by

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish mys ...

in his Arcades Project and are referred to in the novel ''

The Secret Knowledge ''The Secret Knowledge'' (2013) is the seventh novel by Scottish writer Andrew Crumey. It was his first since returning to his original UK publisher Dedalus Books, and was awarded a grant by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.Acknowledgem ...

'' by Andrew Crumey.

Works

French

* ''L'Armée esclave et opprimée'' * ''Critique sociale: Capital et travail'' * ''Critique sociale: Fragments et notes'' * ''Instructions pour une prise d'armes.'' * ''Maintenant il faut des armes'' * ''Ni dieu ni maitre'' * ''Qui fait la soupe doit la manger'' * ''Réponse'' * ''Un dernier mot''

English translations

* ''The Eternity According to the Stars'', tr. by Mathew H. Anderson, with an afterword by Lisa Block de Behar ("Literary Escapes and Astral Shelters of an Incarcerated Conspirator"). In ''CR: The New Centennial Review'' 9/3: 61–94, Winter 2009. The first full-length translation into English."Editors' Note"
* ''Eternity by the Stars.'' Frank Chouraqui, trans. New York: Contra Mundum Press, 2013.

Footnotes

External links

a
Marxists Internet ArchiveThe Blanqui Archive
at Kingston University {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanqui, Louis Auguste 1805 births 1881 deaths People from Alpes-Maritimes French people of Italian descent Politicians from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French socialists Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French activists Revolution theorists Carbonari French people of the Revolutions of 1848 People of the Paris Commune People sentenced to death in absentia French prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery