The Mouvement du 22 Mars (Movement of 22 March) was a French student movement at the
University of Nanterre
Paris Nanterre University (), formerly University of Paris West, Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Hauts-de-Seine, France, in the Paris metropolitan area. It is one of the most prest ...
founded on 22 March 1968, which carried out a prolonged occupation of the university's administration building. Writing at the time,
Jean-Jacques Lebel
Jean-Jacques Lebel (; born 30 June 1936, Paris) is a French visual artist, poet, art collector, writer, political activist, and creator of performance art happening art events. Besides his heterogeneous artworks and poetry, Lebel is also known f ...
described them as "a coalition of
Guevarists, Anarchists, and Trotskyites... The most active, determined, and spontaneously revolutionary force in the movement." Among its principal leaders was
Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (; ; born 4 April 1945) is a French-German politician. Born stateless to a German-Polish Ashkenazi Jewish family, Daniel Cohn-Bendit obtained German citizenship in 1959 and French citizenship in 2015.
Cohn-Bendit was a ...
. After occupying the building, the school dean called the police, and a public scuffle ensued that garnered the movement media and intellectual attention.
This event was one of a series of clashes that led to the nationwide protests in
May 1968
The following events occurred in May 1968:
May 1, 1968 (Wednesday)
*In Dallas, at its first meeting since its creation through a merger, the United Methodist Church removed its rule that Methodist ministers could not drink alcohol nor sm ...
in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
The events of 22 March became the subject of
Robert Merle
Robert Merle (; 28 August 1908 – 27 March 2004) was a French novelist.
Early life
Merle was born in 1908 in Tébessa, French Algeria. His father Félix, who was an interpreter "with a perfect knowledge of literary and spoken Arabic", was kill ...
's 1970 novel ''Derrière la vitre'' (published in the US in 1972 as ''Behind the Glass'').
See also
*
Protests of 1968
The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...
References
1968 in France
May 1968 in France
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