Henri Chazé (23 February 1904, in

Chazé-Henry Chazé-Henry () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Ombrée d'Anjou.French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

. He was born Gaston Davoust in Chazé-Henry, whose name he reversed to form his pseudonym. His father, Eugène Davoust, was an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

railway worker active in his union. He was an advocate of the

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

as advocated by

Émile Pouget Émile Pouget (; 12 October 1860 – 21 July 1931) was a French journalist, anarchist pamphleteer and trade unionist, known for his pivotal role in the development of revolutionary syndicalism in France. His iconic newspaper, '' Le Père Peinard ...

. When Henri was six, his father participated in a major strike by railway workers for weekly rest periods and a better pension. The strike was broken by troops taking over the depots and Eugène was sacked. The family was thrown on hard times and survived by his mother making corsets. His father was also an ardent

freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, as were his grandfather and brother, all affiliated to the

Grand Orient of France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

. However, Henri found the initiation rituals degrading and the environment an example of the sort of organisation where men drawn from all sorts of classes would mix, creating opportunities for both the socially ambitious and spies of the

Deuxième Bureau The ''Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général'' ("Second Bureau of the General Staff") was France's external military intelligence agency from 1871 to 1940. It was dissolved together with the Third Republic upon the armistice with Germany. ...

Union Communiste

He was a founder member of Union Communiste in 1933 and became the editor of their journal ''L'Internationale''.

Works

* ''Pannekoek et les Conseils ouvriers'' (1962) * ''La Révolution et la Guerre d’Espagne'' (1970) * H. Chazé, ''Chronique de la Révolution espagnole, Union communiste (1933-1939)'', éditions Spartacus, Paris, 1979. * ''Militantisme et responsabilité'', Echanges et mouvement, Paris 2004
Présentation d'Henri Simon, texte et en annexe « Le crime des bagnes nazis : le peuple allemand est-il coresponsable ?Extrait en ligne
* Gaston Davoust (H. Chazé)

Franche-Comté Libération, 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaze, Henri 1904 births 1984 deaths French communists