François Dumartheray (1842-1931) was a French anarcho-communist activist. He was a member of the

International Workingmen's Association 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 g ...

and the

Jura Federation The Jura Federation () represented the anarchist, Bakuninist faction of the First International during the anti-statist split from the organization. The Canton of Jura, a Swiss area, was known for its watchmaker artisans in La Chaux-de-Fonds, w ...

, and collaborated with

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

in the journal ''

Le Révolté ''Le Révolté'' was an anarcho-communist journal started by Peter Kropotkin, along with François Dumartheray and Georg Herzig, in February 1879. The journal was partially funded by Elisée Reclus, Kropotkin's mentor. At the time of the journa ...

''.

Biography

François Dumartheray was born in

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

, into a poor peasant family. Having only received a primary school education, he worked as a

waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...

in a cafe and later as a salesman. He joined the

Icarians The Icarians () was an American utopian socialist movement, established by the followers of French politician, journalist, and author Étienne Cabet. In an attempt to put his economic and social theories into practice, many of Cabet's followe ...

of ''L'Avenir'' in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, where a local branch of the

(IWA) was established in 1868. On 13 March 1870, Dumartheray was elected as a member of the federal commission of the IWA. In May 1870, he was arrested for his participation in the IWA, but was amnestied following the proclamation of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, 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, after the Fall of France durin ...

. He took refuge in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, where he was elected to the Congress of the

in September 1873. At the Congress, he proposed that only

manual labour Manual labour (in Commonwealth English, manual labor in American English) or manual work is physical work done by humans, in contrast to labour by machines and working animals. It is most literally work done with the hands (the word ''manual ...

ers would be permitted to join the International. In February 1876, Dumartheray published the pamphlet ''Aux travailleurs manuels partisans de l'action politique'', in which he advocated for "

anarchist communism Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and ser ...

" - in the first documented use of the term. Along with

Élisée Reclus Jacques Élisée Reclus (; 15 March 18304 July 1905) was a French geographer, writer and anarchist. He produced his 19-volume masterwork, ''La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes'' ("Universal Geography"), over a period of ...

, Dumartheray promoted the adoption of anarchist communism by the Anti-Authoritarian International, quickly gaining support from the

Italian anarchists Italian anarchism as a movement began primarily from the influence of Mikhail Bakunin, Giuseppe Fanelli, Carlo Cafiero, and Errico Malatesta. Rooted in collectivist anarchism and social anarchism, social or socialist anarchism, it expanded to inc ...

. In August 1877, he returned to France in disguise and using the pseudonym "Versoix", in order to participate in the constitution of a French anti-authoritarian federation at a congress in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

. During the

1877 French legislative election Legislative elections were held in France on 14 and 28 October 1877 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies. They were held during the '' Seize Mai'' crisis. President Patrice de MacMahon dissolved the Chamber of Deputies elected in 1876, in ...

, Dumartheray published the federation's

abstentionist Abstentionism is the political practice of standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abst ...

manifesto. In 1878, his paper ''Avante-Garde'' was shut down and he returned to Geneva, where he,

and Georges Herzig founded the newspaper ''

'' in February 1879. By this time, a split had ruptured the International, as

collectivists In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, structu ...

from Spain and

democratic socialists Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-manage ...

from Belgium rejected the anarchist communist approach. Anarchist communism was finally adopted by at Jura Federation's congress of 1880, in the last act of the International. That year, Dumartheray was offered amnesty by the French government of

Jules Grévy François Judith Paul Grévy (15 August 1807 – 9 September 1891), known as Jules Grévy (), was a French people, French lawyer and politician who served as President of France from 1879 to 1887. He was a leader of the Opportunist Republicans, M ...

, but he decided not to return to France and largely ceased political activities. He remained in Geneva until 1927. He died and was cremated on 8 September 1931.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dumartheray, François 1842 births 1931 deaths 20th-century anarchists Anarcho-communists French anarchists French emigrants to Switzerland Jura Federation Members of the International Workingmen's Association People from Haute-Savoie