Louis Auguste Blanqui (; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

political philosopher Political philosophy studies the theoretical and conceptual foundations of politics. It examines the nature, scope, and legitimacy of political institutions, such as states. This field investigates different forms of government, ranging from de ...

and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

, notable for his revolutionary theory of

Blanquism Blanquism () refers to a conception of revolution generally attributed to Louis Auguste Blanqui (1805–1881) that holds that socialist revolution should be carried out by a relatively small group of highly organised and secretive conspirators. ...

Biography

Early life, political activity and first imprisonment (1805–1848)

Blanqui was born in

Puget-Théniers Puget-Théniers (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Geography It is situated on in the valley of the Var. History It was part of the historic County of Nice until 1860 as ''Poggetto Tenieri''. Pe ...

Alpes-Maritimes Alpes-Maritimes (; ; ; ) is a Departments of France, department of France located in the country's southeast corner, on the France–Italy border, Italian border and Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast. Part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'A ...

, where his father, Jean Dominique Blanqui, of Italian descent, was subprefect. He was the younger brother of the liberal economist

Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui Jérôme-Adolphe Blanqui (; November 21, 1798 – January 28, 1854) was a French economist. His most important contributions were made in labour economics, economic history, and especially the history of economic thought, in which field his 1837 t ...

. He studied both law and medicine, but found his real vocation in politics, and quickly became a champion of the most advanced opinions. A member of the

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of Secret society, secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Urugua ...

society since 1824, he took an active part in most republican

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

during this period. In 1827, under the reign of

Charles X Charles X may refer to: * Charles X of France (1757–1836) * Charles X Gustav (1622–1660), King of Sweden * Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon (1523–1590), recognized as Charles X of France but renounced the royal title See also * * King Charle ...

(1824–1830), he participated in a street fight in Rue Saint-Denis, during which he was seriously injured. In 1829, he joined

Pierre Leroux Pierre Henri Leroux (; 7 April 1797 – 12 April 1871) was a French philosopher and political economy, political economist. He was born at Bercy, now a part of Paris, France, Paris, the son of an artisan. Life His education was interrupted by ...

's ''Globe'' newspaper before taking part in the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830. He then joined the ''

Amis du Peuple Amis may refer to: * Amis (surname) * Amis people (or ''Amis''), a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines * Amis language, an indigenous language of Taiwan * AMIS (ISP), an Internet service provider (ISP) in Slovenia and Croatia * Amis et Amiles, an old Fre ...

'' ("Friends of the People") society, where he made acquaintances with

Philippe Buonarroti Filippo Giuseppe Maria Ludovico Buonarroti (11 November 1761 – 16 September 1837), more usually referred to by the French version Philippe Buonarroti, was an Italian-French utopian socialist, writer, agitator, freemason, and conspirator. ...

, Raspail, and

Armand Barbès Armand Barbès (18 September 1809 – 26 June 1870) was a French Republican revolutionary and an opponent of the July Monarchy (1830–1848). He is remembered as a man whose life centers on two days: * ''12 May 1839'', the day of the upris ...

. He was condemned to repeated terms of imprisonment for maintaining the doctrine of

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...

during the reign of

Louis Philippe Louis Philippe I (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850), nicknamed the Citizen King, was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, the penultimate monarch of France, and the last French monarch to bear the title "King". He abdicated from his throne ...

(1830–1848). During the 1832 trial of the ''

Amis du People Amis may refer to: * Amis (surname) * Amis people (or ''Amis''), a tribe of Taiwanese aborigines * Amis language, an indigenous language of Taiwan * AMIS (ISP), an Internet service provider (ISP) in Slovenia and Croatia * Amis et Amiles, an old F ...

'' at the cour d'assis in Paris Blanqui declared, "You have confiscated the rifles of July--yes. But the bullets have been fired. Every bullet of the workers of Paris is on its way round the world." In May 1839, a Blanquist inspired uprising took place in Paris, in which the

League of the Just The League of the Just () or League of Justice was a masonic international revolutionary organization. It was founded in 1836 by branching off from its ancestor, the , which had formed in Paris in 1834. The League of the Just was largely compos ...

, forerunners of

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

Communist League The Communist League ( German: ''Bund der Kommunisten)'' was an international political party established on 1 June 1847 in London, England. The organisation was formed through the merger of the League of the Just, headed by Karl Schapper, and th ...

, participated. Implicated in the armed outbreak of the

Société des Saisons Groupe Lactalis S.A. (doing business as Lactalis) is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier S.A. Lactalis is the largest dairy pr ...

, of which he was a leading member, Blanqui was condemned to death on 14 January 1840, a sentence later commuted to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

Release, revolutions and further imprisonment (1848–1879)

He was released during the

revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

, only to resume his attacks on existing institutions. The revolution had not satisfied him. The violence of the ''Société républicaine centrale'', which was founded by Blanqui to demand a change of government, brought him into conflict with the more moderate Republicans, and in 1849 he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. While in prison, he sent a brief address (written in the Prison of Belle-Ile-en-Mer, 10 February 1851) to a committee of social democrats in London. The text of the address was noted and introduced by

. In 1865, while serving a further term of imprisonment under the Empire, he escaped, and continued his

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

campaign against the government from abroad, until the general amnesty of 1869 enabled him to return to France. Blanqui's predilection for violence was illustrated in 1870 by two unsuccessful armed demonstrations: one on 12 January at the funeral of

Victor Noir Victor Noir, born Yvan Salmon (27 July 1848 – 11 January 1870), was a French journalist. After he was shot and killed by Prince Pierre Bonaparte, a cousin of the French Emperor Napoleon III (), Noir became a symbol of opposition to the ...

, the journalist shot by

Pierre Bonaparte Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

; the other on 14 August, when he led an attempt to seize some guns from a barracks. Upon the fall of the Empire, through the revolution of 4 September, Blanqui established the club and journal ''La patrie en danger''. Louis Auguste Blanqui

He was one of the group that briefly seized the reins of power on 31 October and for his share in that outbreak he was again condemned to death ''

in absentia ''In Absentia'' is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Porcupine Tree, first released on 24 September 2002. The album marked several changes for the band, with it being the first with new drummer Gavin Harrison and the f ...

'' on 9 March of the following year. On 17 March,

Adolphe Thiers Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers ( ; ; 15 April 17973 September 1877) was a French statesman and historian who served as President of France from 1871 to 1873. He was the second elected president and the first of the Third French Republic. Thi ...

, aware of the threat represented by Blanqui, took advantage of his resting at a friend physician's place, in Bretenoux in Lot, and had him arrested. A few days afterwards the

insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

which established the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

broke out, and Blanqui was elected president of the insurgent commune. The Communards offered to release all of their prisoners if the Thiers government released Blanqui, but their offer was met with refusal, and Blanqui was thus prevented from taking an active part.

would later be convinced that Blanqui was the leader that was missed by the Commune. Nevertheless, in 1872 he was condemned along with the other members of the Commune to

transportation Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

; on account of his broken health this sentence was again commuted to one of imprisonment. On 20 April 1879 he was elected a deputy for

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

; although the election was pronounced invalid, Blanqui was freed, and immediately resumed his work of agitation.

Ideology

As a socialist, Blanqui favored what he described as a just

redistribution of wealth Redistribution of income and wealth is the transfer of income and wealth (including physical property) from some individuals to others through a social mechanism such as taxation, welfare, public services, land reform, monetary policies, con ...

. However, Blanquism is distinguished in various ways from other socialist currents of the day. On one side, contrary to Karl Marx, Blanqui did not believe in the preponderant role of the working class, nor in popular movements: he thought, on the contrary, that the revolution should be carried out by a small group, who would establish a temporary dictatorship by force. This period of transitional tyranny would permit the implementation of the basis of a new order, after which power would be handed to the people. In another respect, Blanqui was more concerned with the revolution itself than with the future society that would result from it: if his thought was based on precise socialist principles, it rarely goes so far as to imagine a society purely and really socialist. In this he differs from the

utopian socialists Utopian socialism is the term often used to describe the first current of modern socialism and socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Étienne Cabet, and Robert Owen. Utopian socialism is oft ...

. For the Blanquists, the overturning of the bourgeois social order and the revolution are ends sufficient in themselves, at least for their immediate purposes. He was one of the non-Marxist socialists of his day.

Death

Following a speech at a political meeting in Paris, Blanqui had a stroke. He died on 1 January 1881 and was interred in the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

. His elaborate tomb was created by

Jules Dalou Aimé-Jules Dalou (; 31 December 183815 April 1902) was a 19th-century French sculptor, admired for his perceptiveness, execution, and unpretentious realism. Early life Born in Paris to a working-class family of Huguenot background, he was rais ...

Legacy

Blanqui's uncompromising radicalism, and his determination to enforce it by violence, brought him into conflict with every French government during his lifetime, and as a consequence, he spent half of his life in prison. Besides his innumerable contributions to journalism, he published a work entitled, ''L'Eternité par les astres'' (1872), where he espoused his views concerning

eternal return Eternal return (or eternal recurrence) is a philosophical concept which states that time repeats itself in an infinite loop, and that exactly the same events will continue to occur in exactly the same way, over and over again, for eternity. I ...

. After his death his writings on economic and social questions were collected under the title of ''Critique sociale'' (1885). The Italian fascist newspaper ''

Il Popolo d'Italia ''Il Popolo d'Italia'' (; ) was an Italian newspaper published from 15 November 1914 until 24 July 1943. It was founded by Benito Mussolini as a pro-war newspaper during World War I, and it later became the main newspaper of the Fascist movemen ...

'', founded and edited by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

, had a quotation by Blanqui on its mast: ''Chi ha del ferro ha del pane'' ("He who has iron has bread"). Blanqui's political activism and his book ''L'Eternité par les astres'' were commented on by

Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin ( ; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German-Jewish philosopher, cultural critic, media theorist, and essayist. An eclectic thinker who combined elements of German idealism, Jewish mysticism, Western M ...

in his

Arcades Project ''Das Passagen-Werk'' or ''Arcades Project'' was an unfinished project of German philosopher and cultural critic Walter Benjamin, written between 1927 and his death in 1940. An enormous collection of writings on the city life of Paris in the 19t ...

and are referred to in the novel '' The Secret Knowledge'' by

Andrew Crumey Andrew Crumey (born 1961) is a novelist and former literary editor of the Edinburgh newspaper ''Scotland on Sunday''. His works of literary fiction incorporate elements of speculative fiction, historical fiction, philosophical fiction and Menip ...

Works

French

* ''L'Armée esclave et opprimée'' * ''Critique sociale: Capital et travail'' * ''Critique sociale: Fragments et notes'' * ''Instructions pour une prise d'armes.'' * ''Maintenant il faut des armes'' * ''Ni dieu ni maitre'' * ''Qui fait la soupe doit la manger'' * ''Réponse'' * ''Un dernier mot''

English translations

* ''The Eternity According to the Stars'', tr. by Mathew H. Anderson, with an afterword by Lisa Block de Behar ("Literary Escapes and Astral Shelters of an Incarcerated Conspirator"). In ''CR: The New Centennial Review'' 9/3: 61–94, Winter 2009. The first full-length translation into English."Editors' Note"
* ''Eternity by the Stars.'' Frank Chouraqui, trans. New York: Contra Mundum Press, 2013.

Footnotes

External links

Louis-Auguste Blanqui Archive
a
Marxists Internet ArchiveThe Blanqui Archive
at Kingston University {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanqui, Louis Auguste 1805 births 1881 deaths People from Alpes-Maritimes French people of Italian descent Politicians from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur French socialists Members of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic French activists Revolution theorists Carbonari French people of the Revolutions of 1848 People of the Paris Commune People sentenced to death in absentia French prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Activists from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur