Victor Dave (25 February 1847 – 31 October 1922) was a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

editor and journalist best known for his work on anarchist publications and in the

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

Early life and career

Victor Dave was born in

Aalst, Belgium Aalst (; french: Alost, ; Brabantian dialect, Brabantian: ''Oilsjt'') is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality on the Dender River, northwest from Brussels in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, ...

, on February 25, 1847, to a customs officer. He showed interest in freethinking and socialism in his youth and attended the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

and Université libre de Bruxelles. The Marxist socialist

Paul Lafargue Paul Lafargue (; 15 January 1842 – 25 November 1911) was a Cuban- Haitian revolutionary Marxist socialist, political writer, economist, journalist, literary critic, and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law having married his second dau ...

introduced Dave to the anarchist political thought of

Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, , ; 15 January 1809, Besançon – 19 January 1865, Paris) was a French socialist,Landauer, Carl; Landauer, Hilde Stein; Valkenier, Elizabeth Kridl (1979) 959 "The Three Anticapitalistic Movements". ''European Soci ...

at an 1869 international student congress in Liège. Within two years, Dave joined the Brussels branch of the

and two years later, its general council. He represented the international wing at the

1872 Hague Congress The Hague Congress was the fifth congress of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), held from 2–7 September 1872 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The Hague Congress is famous for the expulsion of the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin for cla ...

and the mechanics of Verviers at the 1873 Geneva Congress. At the former, Dave read the minority report supporting federative autonomy and voted against anarchist

Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin (; 1814–1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist, socialist and founder of collectivist anarchism. He is considered among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major founder of the revolutionary s ...

's expulsion from the union. He worked on multiple French- and Dutch-language newspapers in the worker's association. He did not participate in the 1873 Spanish

Cantonal rebellion The Cantonal rebellion was a cantonalist insurrection that took place during the First Spanish Republic between July 1873 and January 1874. Its protagonists were the "intransigent" federal Republicans, who wanted to establish immediately the F ...

despite rumors otherwise. After marrying Marie Archambault of

Loches Loches () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, central France. It is situated southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre. History Loches (the Roman ''Leucae'') grew up around a monastery founded about 500 by St ...

, the couple moved to Paris in 1878, where Dave met

Johann Most Johann Joseph "Hans" Most (February 5, 1846 – March 17, 1906) was a German-American Social Democratic and then anarchism, anarchist politician, newspaper editor, and orator. He is credited with popularizing the concept of "propaganda of the dee ...

. Together, they moved to Most's London two years later, following their expulsion from France, and worked on the German anarchist newspaper ''

Freiheit ' is the German word for both liberty and political freedom. Freiheit may also refer to: Political parties * Freie Demokratische Partei, a liberal party in Germany * South Tyrolean Freedom (', STF), a nationalist political party active in South ...

''. Dave was arrested for treason in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

in late 1880 and received a five-year sentence at trial. Upon his release in 1884, he returned to London, and three years later, Paris, as the French ban lifted. He worked in journalism and translation, editing for Éditions Schleicher and

Augustin Hamon Augustin Frédéric Adolphe Hamon (3 December 1862 – 20 January 1945) was a French socialist-anarchist and later communist editor, translator, and writer on philosophy and social psychology. Biography Hamon studied at the Lycée Condorcet in ...

's '' l’Humanité nouvelle''. He wrote a biography of

Fernand Pelloutier Fernand-Léonce-Émile Pelloutier (1 October 1867, in Paris – 13 March 1901, in Sèvres) was a French anarchist and syndicalist. He was the leader of the ''Bourses du Travail'', a major French trade union, from 1895 until his death in 1901. H ...

and co-published the ''Revue générale de bibliographie française''. He joined the proofreaders and copywriters union in 1911. Prominent anarchist

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

wrote of Dave being the most impressive man she met in

fin de siècle () is a French term meaning "end of century,” a phrase which typically encompasses both the meaning of the similar English idiom "turn of the century" and also makes reference to the closing of one era and onset of another. Without context, ...

Paris. By 1914, Dave became a follower of

Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (; russian: link=no, Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин ; 9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, historian, scientist, philosopher, and activist ...

and in 1916, a signer of the

Manifesto of the Sixteen The ''Manifesto of the Sixteen'' (french: Manifeste des seize), or ''Proclamation of the Sixteen'', was a document drafted in 1916 by eminent anarchists Peter Kropotkin and Jean Grave which advocated an Allied victory over Germany and the Cen ...

for

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

intervention in the World War. He died on October 31, 1922, in Paris.

References

External links

Victor Dave papers
archived at the

International Institute of Social History The International Institute of Social History (IISH/IISG) is one of the largest archives of labor and social history in the world. Located in Amsterdam, its one million volumes and 2,300 archival collections include the papers of major figu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dave, Victor Belgian anarchists Socialist League (UK, 1885) members 1847 births 1922 deaths Members of the International Workingmen's Association Anarchist writers People from Aalst, Belgium Writers from Paris