Max Nomad was the pseudonym of Maximilian Nacht (15 September 1881 – 18 April 1973), an Austrian-born American author and educator. In his youth he espoused militant

anarchism 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 ...

and in the 1920s he was a supporter of the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

. From the 1940s he was for many years a politics lecturer in the United States.

Life

Maximilian Nacht was born in 1881, into a wealthy Jewish family in

Buchach Buchach (, ; ; or ; ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Strypa River (a tributary of the Dniester) in Chortkiv Raion of Ternopil Oblast (Oblast, province) of Western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Buchach urban h ...

, eastern Galicia (now in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

). Before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he lived in Austria and attended the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. He died in 1973.

Career

From 1903 to 1907 Max, his older brother

Siegfried Siegfried is a German-language male given name, composed from the Germanic elements ''sig'' "victory" and ''frithu'' "protection, peace". The German name has the Old Norse cognate ''Sigfriðr, Sigfrøðr'', which gives rise to Swedish ''Sigfrid' ...

and, sometimes, Senna Hoy in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

edited five volumes of a militant journal, ''Der Weckruf'' (The Alarm). In 1908 Max went to live in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, where he became involved, along with

Jan Wacław Machajski Jan Wacław Machajski (pseudonym A. Wolski (A. Vol'ski), often corrupted in Russian as Makhaev; 27 December 1866 – 19 February 1926) was a Polish revolutionary whose methodology drew from both anarchism and Marxism whilst criticising both as be ...

, in setting up a group called Workers' Conspiracy. Max's brother Siegfried, later Stephen, emigrated to the United States at the end of 1912, and Max followed in 1913. During the 1920s Max Nacht wrote pro-Soviet articles using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

"Max Nomad." However, he distanced himself from

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

in 1929. Writing in ''

Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...

'' in 1934, he coined the phrase ''capitalism without capitalists'' to describe the Soviet system. A

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Feb ...

, he became a lecturer in politics and history at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, the

New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...

and the Rand School of Social Science. Nomad wrote of himself:

I remain a lone-wolf philosophical anarchist whose sympathies go out to the poorest of the poor struggling for more and more of the good things of life. But I feel akin only to those rebellious but politically unattached intellectuals who dream of justice and an equal chance for everybody, but know, as I do, that, given the eternal recurrence of predatory elites, and the incurable ignorance and gullibility of the masses, a privileged and educated minority will always rule and exploit the uneducated majority.Coombs, Anne, ''Sex and Anarchy: The Life and Death of the Sydney Push'', Penguin Books Australia, 1996; p. 56.

Works

* ''Die revolutionäre Bewegung in Rußland''. Neues Leben, Berlin 1902 * ''Rebellen-Lieder'' Arnold Roller (Siegfried Nacht), Max Nacht (eds), 1906 * ''Rebels and Renegades''. New York 1932. 430 pp. * ''Apostles of Revolution''. Little, Brown & Co., Boston 1939. 467 pp. * ''A Skeptic's Political Dictionary and Handbook for the Disenchanted''. New York 1953. 171 pp. * ''Aspects of Revolt''. New York 959 311 pp. * ''Political Heretics from Plato to Mao Tse-Tung''. Ann Arbor 1963 * ''Dreamers, Dynamiters and Demagogues: Reminiscences''. New York

964 Year 964 ( CMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. Events Byzantine Empire * Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II continues the reconquest of south-eastern Anatolia (modern Turkey). He recaptures Cyp ...

251 pp. * ''The Anarchist Tradition and Other Essays''. 1967. 398 pp. * ''Masters--Old and New'' 1979 * ''White Collars and Horny Hands: The Revolutionary Thought of Waclaw Machajski'' 1983

Life

Career

Works

References

Further reading