Pavel Thalmann (1901–1980) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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 ...

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

and

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. He was an early member of the

Communist Party of Switzerland The Communist Party of Switzerland (; KPS) or Swiss Communist Party (; ; PCS) was a communist party in Switzerland between 1921 and 1944. It was the Swiss section of the Communist International (Comintern). History The Communist Party of Switz ...

(KPS), from which he was expelled and subsequently joined the

Communist Party Opposition The Communist Party of Germany (Opposition) (), generally abbreviated as KPO or KPD(O), was a communist opposition organisation established at the end of 1928 and maintaining its existence until 1939 or 1940. After the rise of Adolf Hitler and the ...

(KPS-O). During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, he joined the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM) and fought alongside

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or hierarchy, primarily targeting the state and capitalism. Anarchism advocates for the replacement of the state w ...

in the

Durruti Column The Durruti Column (Spanish: ''Columna Durruti''), with about 6,000 people, was the largest anarchist column (or military unit) formed during the Spanish Civil War. During the first months of the war, it became the most recognized and popular mil ...

. He later participated in the

French resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

and remained active as an activist until the last years of his life.

Biography

Pavel Thalmann was born in the

city of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

in 1901. As a young man, he came under the influence of the Swiss anarchist Fritz Brupbacher and joined the

(KPS) in 1921. From its founding, Thalmann served as

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

of the Swiss communist youth, and as a functionary for the

Communist International The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internationa ...

. In 1922, he was delegated to attend a congress of the

Young Communist International The Young Communist International (YCI) was the parallel international youth organization affiliated with the Communist International (Comintern). History International socialist youth organization before World War I After failed efforts to fo ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, where he first came under the influence of

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

. In 1925, Thalmann stepped down as secretary of the Swiss communist youth and enrolled in Moscow's

Higher Party School Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU () was a higher party-political educational institution in the Soviet Union for the training and retraining of the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Soviet state, ...

, where he studied alongside Hermann Erb and Ernst Illi. He graduated in 1928 and returned to Basel, where he became editor of the communist newspaper '' Basler Vorwärts''. He also met and married Clara Ensner, a fellow Swiss communist. They became known as an exemplary "revolutionary couples", emphasising

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality, gender egalitarianism, or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making, an ...

between them. In 1929, Thalmann and Ensner were expelled from the KPS and subsequently joined the

(KPS-O). In 1932, Thalmann became editor of its newspaper, '' Arbeiter-Zeitung'', which was published from

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

. By this time, he was a himself a committed

. After the outbreak of the

in July 1936, he joined Clara in

Revolutionary Catalonia Revolutionary Catalonia (21 July 1936 – 8 May 1937) was the period in which the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeast Spain was controlled or largely influenced by various anarchist, syndicalist, communist, and socialist trade unions, p ...

. There Thalmann worked as a

, and joined the Workers' Party of Marxist Unification (POUM). Thalmann then signed up to fight in the

, alongside

anarcho-syndicalists Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

from Germany. During the

May Days The May Days (, ), sometimes also called May Events (, ), were a series of clashes between 3 and 8 May 1937 during which factions on the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republican side of the Spanish Civil War engaged one another in str ...

, Thalmann and Ensner were imprisoned by the

Communist Party of Spain The Communist Party of Spain (; PCE) is a communist party that, since 1986, has been part of the United Left coalition, which is currently part of Sumar. Two of its politicians are Spanish government ministers: Yolanda Díaz (Minister of L ...

(PCE). Around this time, they had become acquainted with the anarchist Friends of Durruti Group, which they later alleged to be under the influence of the Trotskyist Hans Freund (aka "Moulin"). Thalmann later alleged that some right-wing POUM activists

executed Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

Trotskyist members of the party, although Clara claimed she had no knowledge of this happening. They soon fled to

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 ...

. During

World War II 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 ...

, Paul Thalmann participated in the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

, providing aid to German refugees in

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 ...

. After the war, Thalmann and Ensner agitated for the Soviet human rights movement and for

Algerian independence An independence referendum was held in French Algeria on 1 July 1962. It followed French approval of the Évian Accords in an April referendum. Voters were asked whether Algeria should become an independent state, co-operating with France; 99.7 ...

. In 1953, they moved to Niça, where they opened a

guesthouse A guest house (or guesthouse, also rest house) is a kind of lodging. In some parts of the world (such as the Caribbean), a guest house is a type of inexpensive hotel-like lodging. In others, it is a private home that has been converted for the e ...

and worked together with student radicals during the

counterculture of the 1960s The counterculture of the 1960s was an anti-establishment cultural phenomenon and political movement that developed in the Western world during the mid-20th century. It began in the early 1960s, and continued through the early 1970s. It is ofte ...

. During the 1970s, the couple published their memoirs in 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), ...

and

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

s, which became key

primary source In the study of history as an academic discipline, a primary source (also called an original source) is an Artifact (archaeology), artifact, document, diary, manuscript, autobiography, recording, or any other source of information that was cre ...

s for histories of the Spanish Civil War. Their memoirs were more concerned with depicting the political sectarianism of the

factions than the revolutionary activities of the POUM. Pavel Thalmann died in 1980.

Selected works

* *

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Paul Thalmann/Clara Thalmann Papers
at the

International Institute of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thalmann, Paul 1901 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Swiss journalists Swiss anti-fascists Foreign nationals imprisoned in Spain Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) French Resistance members People from Basel-Stadt Swiss communists Swiss emigrants to France Swiss expatriates in Spain Swiss people imprisoned abroad Swiss people of the Spanish Civil War Swiss newspaper editors