Auguste Vaillant (27 December 1861 – 5 February 1894) was a French

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 necessar ...

, most famous for his bomb attack on the French

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon Res ...

on 9 December 1893. The government's reaction to this attack was the passing of the infamous repressive '' Lois scélérates''. Vaillant threw the home-made device from the public gallery and was immediately arrested. The weakness of the device meant that the explosion only caused slight injuries to twenty deputies. At his trial in Paris he was defended by

Fernand Labori Fernand-Gustave-Gaston Labori (April 18, 1860 – March 14, 1917) was a French attorney. He was born in Reims and educated at the Faculty of Law of Paris. In his professional life, he defended the accused in some of the most prominent politi ...

. Vaillant claimed that his aim was not to kill but to wound as many deputies as possible in revenge for the execution of

Ravachol François Claudius Koenigstein, also known as Ravachol, (14 October 1859 – 11 July 1892) was a French anarchist. He was born on 14 October 1859, at Saint-Chamond, Loire and died by being guillotined on 11 July 1892, at Montbrison, Loire, Montb ...

. Despite this, Vaillant was sentenced to death. He was put to death by the

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at t ...

on 5 February 1894. His bombing and execution in turn inspired the attacks of Émile Henry and

Sante Geronimo Caserio Sante Geronimo Caserio (; 8 September 187316 August 1894) was an Italian anarchist and the assassin of Marie François Sadi Carnot, President of the French Third Republic. Caserio was born in Motta Visconti, Lombardy. On 24 June 1894, he fatally ...

(who stabbed to death

Marie François Sadi Carnot Marie François Sadi Carnot (; 11 August 1837 – 25 June 1894) was a French statesman, who served as the President of France from 1887 until his assassination in 1894. Early life Marie François Sadi Carnot was the son of the statesman Hippo ...

, President of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940 ...

) and

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was a charismatic Indian revolutionary* * who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer * * in what was to be retaliation for the death of an Indian national ...

(who threw a low-intensity bomb into the

Central Legislative Assembly The Central Legislative Assembly was the lower house of the Imperial Legislative Council, the legislature of British India. It was created by the Government of India Act 1919, implementing the Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms. It was also sometim ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, and was hanged later). Vaillant's last words were "Death to the Bourgeoisie! Long live Anarchy!"

References

External links

Auguste Valliant Page
at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia 1861 births 1894 deaths 19th-century French criminals People from Charleville-Mézières Executed anarchists French anarchists French revolutionaries Executed people from Champagne-Ardenne People executed by the French Third Republic 19th-century executions by France People executed by guillotine People executed by France by decapitation Executed French people People executed for attempted murder Bombers (people) {{Anarchist-stub