Marie Louise Berneri (born Maria Luisa Berneri; 1 March 1918 – 13 April 1949) was an anarchist activist and author. Born in Italy, she spent much of her life in Spain, France, and England. She was involved with the short-lived publication, ''Revision'', with Luis Mercier Vega and was a member of the group that edited ''Revolt'', '' War Commentary'', and the newspaper '' Freedom''. She was a continuous contributor to '' Spain and the World''. She also wrote a survey of utopias, ''Journey Through Utopia'', first published in 1950 and re-issued in 2020. ''Neither East Nor West'' is a selection of her writings (1952).

Early life

She was born in Arezzo,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, the elder daughter of Camillo & Giovanna Berneri. The family went into exile in 1926 for resisting

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 ...

. In 1936 her father went to Spain, to fight against the fascists in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

. He was assassinated by Communists in 1937. Marie visited

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

twice, the second time after her father's murder. Around this time she was living in France and studying

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

Anarchism

Towards the end of 1937 she married

Vernon Richards Vernon Richards (born Vero Benvenuto Costantino Recchioni, 19 July 1915 – 10 December 2001) was an Anglo-Italian anarchist, editor, author, engineer, photographer, and companion of Marie-Louise Berneri. Richards' founding of the paper ''Spai ...

, also an active anarchist with many of the same groups and publications as she. In April 1945 she was one of the four editors of '' War Commentary'' which she had helped to found, who were tried for incitement to disaffection. Because her husband was a co-defendant, she was acquitted on a legal technicality that allows that a wife cannot conspire with her husband. When her three comrades were imprisoned, she took on the main responsibility for maintaining the paper into the postwar period. She attended the first post-war international anarchist conference in Paris, 1948 as a member of the British delegation. Her mother and sister Giliane Berneri, a medical doctor, also attended as members of the Italian and French delegations. She received much praise for her

Freedom Press Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house and bookseller in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1886, it is the largest anarchist publishing house in the country and the oldest of its kind in the English speaking world. It is bas ...

pamphlet, the

anti-Stalinist The anti-Stalinist left is an umbrella term for various kinds of left-wing political movements that opposed Joseph Stalin, Stalinism and the actual system of governance Stalin implemented as leader of the Soviet Union between 1927 and 1953. Th ...

''Workers in Stalin's Russia'' (1944). Berneri was also one of the first people in Britain to promote the ideas of

Wilhelm Reich Wilhelm Reich ( , ; 24 March 1897 – 3 November 1957) was an Austrian doctor of medicine and a psychoanalyst, along with being a member of the second generation of analysts after Sigmund Freud. The author of several influential books, most ...

Death and legacy

In December 1948 Berneri gave birth at home but the baby died shortly afterwards. Berneri died on the 13th of April 1949 at the age of 31 from a viral infection. She was cremated at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of Queens Park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, it was founded by the barrister George Frederick ...

and her ashes scattered in a north London park. Her friends formed the ''Marie Louise Berneri Memorial Committee'' and in 1949 published the book ''Marie Louise Berneri, 1918 – 1949: A Tribute.'' In 1950 the book ''Journey Through Utopia'' was published posthumously. In 1952 the memorial committee published ''Neither East Nor West'', a selection of Berneri's articles from '' War Commentary''.

George Woodcock George Woodcock (; May 8, 1912 – January 28, 1995) was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, a philosopher, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet and published several volumes of travel wri ...

and Ivan Avacumovic dedicated their biography of Peter Kropotkin, '' The Anarchist Prince'' (1950), to Marie-Louise Berneri, "a true disciple of Kropotkin."

Works

* ''Peter Kropotkin: His Federalist Ideas'' (1922) * ''Workers in Stalin's Russia'' (1945) * '' Journey Through Utopia'' (1950) * ''Neither East Nor West: Selected Writings 1939–1948'' (1952)

References

External links