Lucienne Abraham (1 March 1916 – 4 February 1970), also known as Michèle Mestre, was a French

Trotskyist Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

Life

She joined the Internationalist Communist Party (PCI) and became the editor of its newspaper, '' La Verité''. From at least 1946, she was aligned with Mathias Corvin, known for his generous attitude towards the

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 1950, a dispute developed in which the PCI refused to follow the line of the

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) was a political international established in France in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union and the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third Inte ...

. Prominently among the PCI's Central Committee, Mestre supported the International's line. As a result, in 1951, she was removed as editor of the newspaper and sidelined in the party. In 1952, the leadership of the Fourth International removed the Central Committee and created a new one representing their supporters, based around Mestre and

Pierre Frank Pierre Frank (24 October 1905 – 18 April 1984) was a French Trotskyist leader. He served on the secretariat of the Fourth International from 1948 to 1979. Biography Educated as a chemical engineer, Frank was one of the first French Trotskyist ...

. The actions of the International prompted a split, the majority of party members leaving to form a new group of the same name, led by

Pierre Lambert : Pierre Lambert (; real name Pierre Boussel ; June 9, 1920 – January 16, 2008) was a French Trotskyist leader, who for many years acted as the central leader of the French Courant Communiste Internationaliste (CCI) which founded the Worke ...

and Marcel Bleibtreu. The following year, the Fourth International itself split, Mestre's group siding with the

International Secretariat of the Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) was a political international established in France in 1938 by Leon Trotsky and his supporters, having been expelled from the Soviet Union and the Communist International (also known as Comintern or the Third Inte ...

, and Lambert's joining the

International Committee of the Fourth International The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is a public faction of the Fourth International founded in 1953. Today, two Trotskyist List of Trotskyist internationals, internationals claim to be the continuations of the ICFI; o ...

. In 1954, Mestre walked out of the Fourth Congress of the Fourth International, along with Corvin and a small group of supporters. They soon joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (, , PCF) is a Communism, communist list of political parties in France, party in France. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its Member of the European Parliament, MEPs sit with The Left in the ...

(PCF), where they formed a "Revolutionary Tendency". Within the PCF, she renounced Trotskyism and helped uncover some Trotskyist entrists. After the

Sino-Soviet Split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...

, Mestre and Corvin were the first to distribute

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

literature in France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abraham, Lucienne 1916 births 1970 deaths Internationalist Communist Party (France) politicians French Communist Party politicians French Trotskyists 20th-century French politicians 20th-century French women politicians