Maurice Laissant (11 March 1909 – 29 September 1991) Began his career working for the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

national

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

company before taking a job as a sales representative. He became progressively more widely known as a militant anarchist individualist, free thinker and

pacifist 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 ''a ...

. He was a co-founder in 1953 of the newly regrouped

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

based Anarchist Federation. In 1955 he hit the headlines when he was convicted for printing a poster condemning the war in

Indo-China Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

and the writer

Albert Camus Albert Camus ( ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, journalist, world federalist, and political activist. He was the recipient of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the s ...

publicly came to his defence.

Life

Provenance and early years

Maurice Laisant came from a political family. His grandfather was the radical

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

for

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

Charles-Ange Laisant Charles-Ange Laisant (1 November 1841 – 5 May 1920), French politician and mathematician, was born at Indre, near Nantes on 1 November 1841, and was educated at the École Polytechnique as a military engineer. He was a Freemason and a libert ...

. Maurice and his younger brother Charles Laisant inherited their libertarian beliefs from their parents. He was initiated into the Free Masons in 1926, joining the "Concordia" lodge of the

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

. Normal minimum age requirements were waived because his father was already a member. However, his father died shortly afterwards, on 28 November 1928, and he was required to quit. Despite this unhappy experience he would later defend the Masons from criticism, notably among any fellow anarchists hostile to free masonry. He joined the Young Pacifists' Union (''Union des Jeunesses pacifistes de France'' /UJPF) in 1935. In 1939 he began working on

Le Libertaire ''Le Libertaire'' ('The Libertarian') is a Francophone anarchist newspaper established in New York City in June 1858 by the exiled anarchist Joseph Déjacque. It appeared at slightly irregular intervals until February 1861. The title reappeared ...

, the weekly newspaper which at this time was published by the "Anarchist Union".

Co-founder of the Anarchist federation

After the

Second World War 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 ...

ended in May 1945 Maurice Laisant was one of a number of individuals who co-founded, in December 1945, the Anarchist Federation. The co-founders also included Robert Joulin, Maurice Fayolle,

Maurice Joyeux Maurice Joyeux (29 January 1910 – 9 December 1991) was a French writer and anarchist. He first was a mechanic then a bookseller, he is a remarkable figure in the French Libertarianism Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosop ...

Roger Caron Roger "Mad Dog" Caron (April 12, 1938 – April 11, 2012) was a Canadian robber and the author of the influential prison memoir '' Go-Boy! Memories of a Life Behind Bars'' (1978). At the time of publishing, Caron was 39 years old and had spent ...

and

Henri Bouyé Henri is the French form of the masculine given name Henry, also in Estonian, Finnish, German and Luxembourgish. Bearers of the given name include: People French nobles * Henri I de Montmorency (1534–1614), Marshal and Constable of France * H ...

. In 1946 he started to work with

Louis Louvet Louis Alexandre Louvet (7 February 1899 – 15 March 1971) was a French tram driver, proofreader, anarcho-syndicalist activist and anarchist. He wrote for many anarchist journals. Life Louis Alexandre Louvet was born in the 2nd arrondissement of ...

on the anti-militarist weekly publication, . He attended the first congress of the "General Pacifist Federation" (''Confédération générale pacifiste'' / CGP), held in Paris in November 1946, participating as a member of the propaganda commission. Laisant frequently intervened in support of

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

s even where his personal position on conscientious objection was more nuanced.

Maurice Rajsfus Maurice Rajsfus (9 April 1928 – 13 June 2020) was a French writer, journalist, historian and anti-establishment militant. He was the author of numerous books addressing themes such as the Jewish genocide in France, the police, and attacks on ci ...

recalled a debate on fundamentals within the Anarchist Federation in which Maurice Laisant, while inviting discussion, nevertheless set forth his own point of view with great coherence: :"What is conscientious objection if it is not the refusal of a man to bend himself to laws and current customs? In every age and place there has been conscientious objection, individually or in groups, of man against the established order .... I have never advocated conscientious objection, because I judge that it can only be a personal matter, and not something that can ever be judged by anyone other than the individual directly affected: I also should not wish to impose on others a path that I have not myself had the courage to pursue."''« Qu'est-ce que l'objection de conscience, sinon le refus d'un homme de se plier aux lois, aux usages ayant cours. Dans tous les domaines, et dans tous les temps, il y eut objection de conscience, individuelle ou collective, des hommes devant l'ordre établi. .... Je n'ai jamais prôné l'objection de conscience, estimant que ce ne pouvait être qu'un acte personnel que nul autre n'a à juger que l'intéressé, par surcroît parce que j'aurais assez mauvaise posture pour engager des hommes dans une voie que je n'ai pas eu moi-même le courage de suivre »'' Following fragmentation within the Anarchist Federation Maurice Laisant was one of those who set about reconstructing the group in 1953, in the process becoming one of its leading members. In 1956, together with

, he joined the editorial committee of Le Monde libertaire, the Federation's (by now monthly) magazine. At the start of the 1950s he was a member of "Free Forces for Peace" (''"Forces Libres de la Paix"''), becoming the group's propaganda secretary in 1952.

The poster affair

In October 1954 Laisant faced charges following the publication of a forceful poster calling for the ending of hostilities in Indo-China. The poster failed to include the requisite legal notice, and it had been printed on white paper. In February 1955 he was condemned by a Paris court and required to pay a large fine. One of those who spoke up for Laisant at his trial was

, already an influential supporter of French liberal traditions. Camus told the court: :"I got to know Camus in a meeting where we joined together to call for the freedom of men condemned to death in a neighbouring country. Since then I have on various occasions had to admire his willingness to struggle against the scourge that menaces humanity. I find it impossible that anyone could ever condemn a man whose actions are so completely aligned with the interests of every other person. People prepared to stand up against a danger to humanity that grows more terriuble every day are too rare".''" J'ai connu Laisant dans un meeting où nous réclamions ensemble la libération d'hommes condamnés à mort dans un pays voisin. Depuis. je l'ai parfois revu et j'ai pu admirer sa volonté de lutter contre le fléau qui menace le genre humain. Il me semble impossible que l'on puisse condamner un homme dont l'action s'identifie si complètement avec l'intérêt de tous les autres hommes. Trop rares sont ceux qui se lèvent contre un danger chaque jour plus terrible pour l'humanité."'' Camus was clearly impressed by the activism of Maurice Laisant.

Later years

In June 1957, at their congress in

, Laisant was appointed Secretary General of the Anarchist Federation, a post he would continue to hold till 1975. In May 1978, after the

Ris-Orangis Ris-Orangis () is a Communes of France, commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Inhabitants of Ris-Orangis are known as ''Rissois''. History The commune of Ris-Orangis was creat ...

congress at which the Anarchist Federation recognised the class struggle, he took issue with the federation for its drift towards Marxism. With various other groups out of sympathy with this trend, he launched a new edition of

, publication of which had lapsed a few years earlier. It was on the basis of this latest split that in November 1979 he was among the founders of the Union of Anarchists: he remained a member till he died.

References