Vicomte Gilbert de Rorthays (1 January 1875 – 22 October 1949), alias René de Marmande, was a French

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

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 ...

Life

Origins

Marie Constant Emmanuel de Rorthay de Saint Hilaire—who later took the pseudonym of René de Marmande—was born in

Vannes Vannes (; , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, French department of Morbihan, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, northwestern mainland France. It was founded over 2,000 years ago. History Celtic ...

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

on 1 January 1875. His family were minor nobility of the

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

syndicalist movements 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 ...

(1914–18). He contributed to the of

Jean Grave Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in French anarchism and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodicals, ...

, the of Gustave Hervé and the bulletin of the ''

Association internationale antimilitariste The International Antimilitarist Association (, ''AIA'') was a pacifist association founded in Amsterdam in 1904 that was dedicated to fighting militarism. Although technically open to all political views, it was dominated by anarchists. The member ...

'' (AIA: International Anti-Militarism Association). In 1906 he was appointed treasurer of (Freedom of opinion), a committee to assist political prisoners. Other activists in the committee included Charles Desplanques, Alphonse Merrheim,

Émile Janvion Émile Janvion (10 April 1866 – 21 July 1927) was a French teacher, an anarcho-syndicalist leader, a founder of the ''Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT) and a leader of the anti-militarist movement. He came to hold national syndicalis ...

, Paul Delesalle and Auguste Garnery. In August 1907 Marmande, Amédée Dunois, Benoît Broutchoux, Henri Beylie, and

Pierre Monatte Pierre Monatte (15 January 188127 June 1960) was a French trade unionist, a founder of the '' Confédération générale du travail'' (CGT, General Confederation of Labour) at the beginning of the 20th century, and founder of its journal '' La V ...

were among the French delegates to the

International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam The International Anarchist Congress of Amsterdam took place from 24 August to 31 August 1907. It gathered delegates from 14 countries, among which important figures of the anarchist movement, including Errico Malatesta, Luigi Fabbri, Benoît ...

, where Marmande was

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

for the discussion on "anti-militarism as a tactic of anarchism". Only eight French anarchists attended the Congress at all. Marmande signed a

proposition A proposition is a statement that can be either true or false. It is a central concept in the philosophy of language, semantics, logic, and related fields. Propositions are the object s denoted by declarative sentences; for example, "The sky ...

that said syndicalism and the material interests of the

proletariat The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian or a . Marxist ph ...

were the main basis of revolutionary activity, and another that said revolutionary

trade unionism A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and 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 ...

are only means and can in no way replace the

Social Revolution Social revolutions are sudden changes in the structure and nature of society. These revolutions are usually recognized as having transformed society, economy, culture, philosophy, and technology along with but more than just the political system ...

. The capitalistic régime could only be abolished through an insurrection and expropriation, and the battle should be directed against all authoritarian forces. Marmande also attended the congress of the AIA while in Amsterdam. Marmande met

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

at the anarchist congress. In her notes she recorded: In October 1907 Marmande co-founded an anarchist group that met in the office of the , along with

, Marc Pierrot, Charles Benoît and the Dutch

Christiaan Cornelissen Christiaan Gerardus Cornelissen (1864–1942) was a Dutch journalist and economist, and one of the leading figures of syndicalism in the Netherlands. Biography Christiaan Gerardus Cornelissen was born on 30 August 1864, in the Dutch city of 's- ...

. In May 1908 he participated in the creation of the , which represented the pro-syndicalist trend in opposition to that of Marceau Rimbault, but this group did not stay together. After the strikes of pit workers at

Draveil Draveil () is a commune in the Essonne department in the southern outer suburbs of Paris, France.La Guerre Sociale'' and was a member of the anarchist group of Paris-Ternes. That month he, Miguel Almereyda and Georges Durupt established the (Revolutionary Federation) in an effort to bring together the various anarchist groups. The founding congress was held in April 1909 in the premises of the ''

Confédération générale du travail The General Confederation of Labour (, , CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is the largest in terms of votes in the Labour C ...

'' (CGT: General Confederation of Labor). Before the last session, Marmande and others left to speak at a meeting of striking button makers in Méru, Oise. The meeting was interrupted by a charge of the gendarmerie. In June 1909 his house in Paris was raided as part of an investigation into a wave of sabotage of telegraph and telephone lines. Marmande was one of the organizers of a protest against the visit of

Tsar Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

to Paris in July 1909. In October 1909 he was involved in the protests over the execution of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia in Spain. He belonged to the Unparliamentary Revolutionary Committee from February to May 1910. In 1912 Marmande was one of the leaders of the campaign to release Emile Rousset, and was secretary of the committee for this purpose. He was one of the signatories of the poster ''A bas Biribi'', which denounced the Algerian military prisons and demanded justice for Rousset. The signatories were persecuted for incitement to murder and disobedience, but were acquitted at their trial of 4–5 July 1910. He went to Algeria for the CDS to investigate conditions, and brought back much of the evidence used in Rousset's defense, but his expense accounts were challenged and he resigned from the CDS.

World War I and later

Marmande was entered on the ''

Carnet B ''Carnet B'' was a list of suspects kept by the French Third Republic government. It was created in 1886 by General Georges Ernest Boulanger to fight against espionage activities.Donald N. Baker. (1978). ''The Surveillance of Subversion in Interw ...

'' police list of anti-military activists. During

(1914–18) he was mobilized in March 1916 to the 13th artillery regiment, but was discharged due to myopia. He returned to activism in May 1917, and founded the pacifist weekly review . The review was on the left wing of the ''

union sacrée The Sacred Union (, ) was a political truce in the French Third Republic in which the left-wing agreed during World War I not to oppose the government or call any strikes. Made in the name of patriotism, it stood in opposition to the pledge made ...

''. In April 1918 he was called as a witness at the trial of Almereyda's journal. After the war he joined the Clamart section of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

for a short period. He then became a member of the (League of Human Rights). Marmande contributed to various journalist of the reformist trend in the CGT, including and of René Belin. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1939–45), under the German occupation he contributed to ', where he published his memoirs. He had become hostile to communism, and wrote for the collaborationist press. He died on 22 October 1949 at Chapelle-Forainvillers, Eure-et-Loir.

References

Sources

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marmande, Rene de 1875 births 1949 deaths 20th-century anarchists 20th-century French journalists Anarcho-syndicalists French anarchists French anti-capitalists French male journalists French syndicalists Insurrectionary anarchists