Abraham Isaak (October 4, 1856 – December 10, 1937) was a newspaper editor and Russian-American

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 ...

. He was raised in the

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

village of Rosenthal, part of the

Chortitza Colony Chortitza Colony was a ''volost'', a subdivision of Yekaterinoslav uezd within Yekaterinoslav Governorate in the Russian Empire, now in Ukraine. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the area was annexed by Russia after the liquidation of t ...

(in present-day

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 ...

, then in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

), but later settled in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Biography

Abraham Isaak was the second of 12 children born to Abraham Isaak (1832–1898) and Helena Wiebe (1835–1882). Isaak was best known for his editing and publishing the American anarchist weeklies the ''Firebrand'' (1895–1897) and '' Free Society'' (1897–1904), Isaak was less a theorist than an activist. His acquaintances and friends included the Russian anarchists

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

and

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 ...

. Isaak came to regret his move to

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

in 1904 where ''Free Society'' faced financial problems that forced its closure in November of that year. Emma Goldman's '' Mother Earth'', which first appeared in 1906, was an attempt to fill the anarchists' subsequent literary void.

Political and ethical beliefs

Isaak only twice referred to his

past in the ''Firebrand'' and ''Free Society''. This extended quote is taken from the former: Although Isaak was an ex-Mennonite, he continued to espouse many traditional

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

principles such as

pacifism Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ...

, mutual aid and socio-economic equality that Anarchist theorists have promoted and that Isaak believed represented the best of his own Mennonite tradition.

Later life

Nothing suggests Isaak resumed

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

work. In fact, he became involved in such establishment organizations as the Farm Bureau and other

civic organization Civic engagement or civic participation is any individual or group activity addressing issues of public concern. Civic engagement includes communities working together or individuals working alone in both political and non-political actions to ...

s. Maria Isaak died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on April 17, 1934; Isaak, according to his

death certificate A death certificate is either a legal document issued by a medical practitioner which states when a person died, or a document issued by a government civil registration office, that declares the date, location and cause of a person's death, a ...

, died of acute

pancreatitis Pancreatitis is a condition characterized by inflammation of the pancreas. The pancreas is a large organ behind the stomach that produces digestive enzymes and a number of hormone A hormone (from the Ancient Greek, Greek participle , "se ...

on December 10, 1937. Four years before his death Isaak wrote to his friend, Harry Kelly: "First, the railroads took our pears and plums and $70 to boot; the good Lord took our citrus fruit (by frost), and two weeks ago the Bank of Lincoln closed its doors, where we had our last savings...." He concluded: "Some 30 years ago Thorsten Veblen told me in Chicago that the machine would break

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

sooner than the efforts of revolutionists, and it seems his prediction is coming true."Printed in ''Freedom'', February 25, 1933, pg. 3.

References

External links

Digitized scans of ''Free Society'' and ''The Firebrand''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isaak, Abraham 1856 births 1937 deaths American anarchists American anti-capitalists American pacifists American people of Russian descent People from Lincoln, California Anarchists from the Russian Empire Anti-capitalists from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Pacifists from the Russian Empire Writers from Portland, Oregon Ukrainian anarchists

Biography

Political and ethical beliefs

Later life

See also

References

Further reading

External links