Paul Arthur Müller-Lehning (23 October 1899 – 1 January 2000) was a Dutch author, historian and anarchist.

Biography

Arthur Lehning was born in the Dutch city of

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

on 23 October 1899. He studied in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, where he was first introduced to

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 became involved in

prisoner support Prisoner support encompasses a variety of activities aimed a providing assistance to prisoners, particularly political prisoners. Many programs devoted to this purpose have quite limited resources; for instance, Nottingham Black Prisoner Support, w ...

activism, aiding anarchist political prisoners in the nascent

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In 1922, he joined the International Anti-Militarist Bureau (IAMB) and the

International Workers' Association International Workers' Association may refer to: * International Workingmen's Association The International Workingmen's Association (IWA; 1864–1876), often called the First International, was a political international which aimed at unitin ...

(IWA), within which he advanced the proposal of using a

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 a means to end wars. In 1927, he joined the press service of the International Anti-Militarist Commission, which resulted from a collaboration between the IAMB and IWA. He also published the ''i10'' art magazine, which drew contributions from numerous prominent artists. Lehning was appointed as secretary of the IWA in 1932 and served in this post until 1935. The following year, he travelled to Spain to witness the

Spanish Revolution of 1936 The Spanish Revolution was a social revolution that began at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936, following the Spanish coup of July 1936, attempted coup to overthrow the Second Spanish Republic and arming of the worker movements an ...

. At the outbreak of

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 ...

, he oversaw the transfer of the archives of the

International Institute of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

(IISG) from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, where they remained until the

liberation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...

in 1945. Over the 1960s and 1970s, he edited the collected works of

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

. Lehnin died in France on 1 January 2000.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehning, Arthur 1899 births 2000 deaths Dutch anarchists 20th-century Dutch historians Anarchist theorists Dutch men centenarians Writers from Utrecht (city) 20th-century Dutch translators P. C. Hooft Award winners

Biography

See also

References

Bibliography