Alphonse Gallaud de la Pérouse (28 May 1864 – 30 August 1930), better known as Zo d'Axa (), was a French adventurer, anti-militarist,

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Early satirical authors *Aes ...

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 founder of two of the most legendary French magazines, ''L' EnDehors'' and ''La Feuille''. A descendant of the famous French navigator

Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse Commodore (rank), Commodore Jean François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse (; 23 August 1741 – ) was a French Navy officer and explorer. Having enlisted in the Navy at the age of 15, he had a successful career and in 1785 was appointed to lea ...

, he was one of the most prominent French individualist anarchists at the turn of the 20th century.

Life

D'Axa was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

man but deserted to

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and was exiled to Italy in 1889. There he ran an ultra-

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

newspaper and seduced the native womenfolk. According to popular myth, d'Axa during his time in Italy was hesitating between becoming an anarchist or a religious

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

when he was accused (wrongfully, he contended) of insulting the Empress of Germany, and was made an anarchist by the subsequent legal proceedings against him. He spent the next few years being pursued from one country to the next by the police, before taking advantage of the general amnesty and returning to France. At this point, having led (in the words of historian Jules Bertaut) "a most disreputable life", and being an agitator by temperament, d'Axa gravitated towards the

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 ...

movement. He founded the famous anarchist newspaper ''L' EnDehors'' in May 1891 in which numerous contributors such as Jean Grave,

Louise Michel Louise Michel (; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and prominent figure during the Paris Commune. Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she began to embrace anarchism, and upon her return to France she emerged as an im ...

, Sébastien Faure, Octave Mirbeau, Tristan Bernard and Émile Verhaeren developed libertarian ideas. D'Axa and ''L'EnDehors'' rapidly became the target of the authorities after attacks by Ravachol and d'Axa was arrested, charged with 'association to commit crimes' and kept in Mazas Prison. After his release he wrote numerous pamphlets and met Camille Pissarro and James Whistler in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was again arrested in Jaffa, and transferred to Sainte-Pélagie Prison,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he spent 18 months before his release in july 1894. He died from suicide in 1930, burning most of his papers the previous night.

Philosophy

An individualist and aesthete, d'Axa justified the use of violence as an anarchist, seeing propaganda of the deed as akin to works of art. Anarchists, he wrote, "had no need to hope for distant better futures, they know a sure means of plucking the joy immediately: destroy passionately!" "It is simple enough.", d'Axa proclaimed of his contemporaries, "If our extraordinary flights (''nos fugues inattendues'') throw people out a little, the reason is that we speak of everyday things as the primitive barbarian would, were he brought across them." D'Axa was a bohemian who "exulted in his outsider status", and praised the anti-capitalist lifestyle of itinerant anarchist bandit precursors of the French illegalists. He expressed contempt for the masses and hatred for their rulers. He was an important anarchist interpreter of the

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

of individualist anarchist Max Stirner, defender of Alfred Dreyfus during the Dreyfus affair and opponent of prisons and penitentiaries.

Publications

* ''From Mazas to Jerusalem'' (De Mazas à Jérusalem) (1895). Illustrations by Lucien Pissarro, Steinlen and

Félix Vallotton Félix Édouard Vallotton (; December 28, 1865December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as '. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portra ...

. * ''L' EnDehors'' (1891–1893) * ''La Feuille'' (1897–1899)

References

External links

Zo d'Axa archive at the anarchist library

at Marxists.org
Zo d'Axa
at the Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Axa, Zo d 1864 births 1930 deaths 1930 suicides 20th-century anarchists 20th-century French journalists 20th-century French male writers 20th-century French non-fiction writers Critics of work and the work ethic Egoist anarchists French anarchists French anti-capitalists French male journalists French male non-fiction writers French satirists Individualist anarchists Suicides in France Writers from Paris

Life

Philosophy

Publications

See also

References

External links