Benoît Malon (23 June 1841 – 13 September 1893), was a French Socialist, writer, communard, and political leader.

Biography

Malon came from a poor peasant family. An opportunity to escape the life of a rural labourer presented itself when Benoît was admitted to a seminary school in Lyon. However, instead of becoming a priest, Malon became interested in radical politics through the writings of P.-J. Proudhon. In 1863 he left the seminary and moved to Paris, where he worked in a factory as a dyer. He became a friend of Zéphyrin Camélinat. Camélinat was a friend of Proudhon and a collaborator of Charles Longuet,

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

' son-in-law. Through Camélinat and Longuet, Malon became involved in the French section of the

First International The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at uniting a variety of different left-wing socialist, social democratic, communist, and anarchist ...

, which he joined in 1865. In the factional struggles within the International, Malon sided with the 'anti-authoritarian' followers of Proudhon and Bakunin, against the Marxists. Malon was active in organising factory workers and led several strikes. In 1868 and 1870, Malon was among the defendants in the sedition trials of the French Section of the International. He was sentenced to prison both times. With the fall of

Napoléon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

in 1870, Malon was freed from prison and helped organise relief for the poor during the Prussian siege of Paris. He joined the 'Republican Central Committee', which united Proudhonists with followers of Auguste Blanqui. In 1871 Malon was elected to the National Assembly of the new Third Republic, but he resigned in protest against the peace treaty, which ceded Alsace-Lorraine to Prussia. When the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

rose against the Thiers government at Versailles, Malon was elected to the Council of the Commune. He also served on the Committee on Labour and Trade. Malon opposed the

Jacobin The Society of the Friends of the Constitution (), renamed the Society of the Jacobins, Friends of Freedom and Equality () after 1792 and commonly known as the Jacobin Club () or simply the Jacobins (; ), was the most influential political cl ...

faction in the Commune, associated with Félix Pyat. Malon voted against the creation of a new Committee of Public Safety. He was horrified by the 'bloody week' when several hostages were shot. After the suppression of the Commune he escaped to Lugano, Switzerland, where he joined the Jura Federation, dominated by Bakuninists. Around this time, Malon began a romantic relationship with Léodile Champseix (better known under her literary pseudonym André Léo), an author and feminist. They entered a 'free marriage' in 1872. A general amnesty in 1880 enabled Malon to return to France, where he resumed work as a journalist and became involved in the new French Workers' Party (POF) of

Jules Guesde Jules Bazile, known as Jules Guesde (; 11 November 1845 – 28 July 1922) was a French socialist journalist and politician. Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter ...

. In 1882, the party split between 'orthodox' Marxists around Guesde and reformist 'possibilists' led by Paul Brousse. Malon sided with Brousse and helped organise the Federation of the Socialist Workers of France (FTSF). In 1885, Malon founded the journal '' Revue Socialiste''. Despite his affiliation with the Possibilists, Malon considered himself an independent socialist and called for the re-unification of the socialist movement (which he did not live to see). The ''Revue Socialiste'' opened its pages to all tendencies of French socialism. In 1889, he became editor of the newspaper '' Egalité''. He also published several books, including a work on 'social economy' (1883), a five-volume history of socialism and a work outlining his theory of 'integral socialism' (1891). When Malon died in 1893, his funeral at the Père-Lachaise cemetery was attended by a crowd of over 10,000 mourners. In 1913, a monument to Malon was established, and

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; ), was a French socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became a social democrat and one of the first possibi ...

gave the dedication speech. In 1905, the various factions of French socialism united in the French Section of the Workers' International (

SFIO The C programming language provides many standard library functions for file input and output. These functions make up the bulk of the C standard library header . The functionality descends from a "portable I/O package" written by Mike Lesk at ...

References

* Vincent, K. Steven, ''Between Marxism and Anarchism: Benoit Malon and French Reformist Socialism''. Berkeley, 1992. * Noël, Bernard, ''Dictionnaire de la Commune''. Paris, 1978. * Vuilleumier, Marc. "Benoît Malon, Herzen et les premiers socialistes russes." Revue des études slaves (2012): 139–161.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malon, Benoit 1841 births 1893 deaths People from Loire (department) French Workers' Party politicians Federation of the Socialist Workers of France politicians Members of the National Assembly (1871) Members of Parliament for Seine Members of the International Workingmen's Association Mutualists Communards Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery