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 Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

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 Mathias, a given name and a surname which is a variant of Matthew (name), may refer to: Places * Mathias, West Virginia * Mathias Township, Michigan People with the given name or surname ''Mathias'' In music * Mathias Eick, Norwegian Jazz Music ...

, known for his generous attitude towards the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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

Fourth International The Fourth International (FI) is a Revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyism, Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global ca ...

. 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, Paris – 18 April 1984, Paris) was a French Trotskyist leader. He served on the secretariat of the Fourth International from 1948 to 1979. Educated as a chemical engineer, Frank was one of the first French Trotsky ...

. 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 Parti d ...

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) is a Revolutionary socialism, revolutionary socialist international organization consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky, also known as Trotskyism, Trotskyists, whose declared goal is the overthrowing of global ca ...

, and Lambert's joining the

International Committee of the Fourth International The International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site, and another linked to the Workers Rev ...

. In 1954, Mestre walked out of the Fourth Congress of the Fourth International, along with Corvin and a small group of supporter

They soon joined the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

(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 breaking of political relations between the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union caused by doctrinal divergences that arose from their different interpretations and practical applications of Marxism–Le ...

, Mestre and Corvin were the first to distribute

Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...

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