Pedro Esteve (1865–1925) was a Catalan American

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

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 ...

and

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held account ...

. He first became involved in

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

organizing while working as a

typographer Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

, through which he joined the

Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region The Federation of Workers of the Spanish Region (, FTRE) was a Spanish anarchist organization founded in the Barcelona Workers' Congress of 1881 by the initiative of a group of Catalans, Catalan anarcho-syndicalists headed Josep Llunas i Pujals, Ra ...

(FTRE) and co-founded the Pact of Union and Solidarity (PUS). Facing heightened political repression in Spain, which followed in the wake of the Jerez uprising, Esteve emigrated to the United States in 1892. In

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, he contributed to the newspaper ''El Despertar'', taking over as editor after Cuban anarchists left due to his opposition to

Cuban independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spanish Empire, Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–187 ...

. He then moved to

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Italian anarchist community. He took over editing the newspaper '' La Questione Sociale'' in 1899, but he was forced to leave the city in 1902, following the

assassination of William McKinley William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in the Temple of Music in Buffalo, New York, on September 6, 1901, six months into his second term. He was shaking hands with th ...

. During a lecture tour of the country, he co-founded the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

(IWW), before moving to

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

with his family. He fled back to New York in 1911, after he was targeted by a lynch mob for supporting a strike. He intermittently published the newspaper ''Cultura Obrera'', but the authorities shut it down on multiple occasions. He died in 1925, but Spanish anarchists revived his publication ''Cultura Proletaria'', and it continued to print issues until 1953.

Biography

Early life and activism

Pedro Esteve was born in into a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in 1865. At the age of 14, he left education and began an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

as a

at ''La Academia''. Through this job, he read a lot of written works and came into contact with many different intellectuals and workers. At this time, a liberal government headed by

Práxedes Mateo Sagasta Práxedes Mariano Mateo Sagasta y Escolar (21 July 1825 – 5 January 1903) was a Spanish civil engineer and politician who served as Prime Minister on eight occasions between 1870 and 1902—always in charge of the Liberal Party—as part of t ...

created a more open environment for the Spanish labour movement, resulting in the establishment of the

(FTRE) by

Spanish anarchists Anarchism in Spain has historically gained some support and influence, especially before Francisco Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, when it played an active political role and is considered the end of the golden age of c ...

, in a tactical alliance with

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. In 1882, a group of

syndicalists Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goal of gaining ...

at ''La Academia'' formed the

''Solidaria'', bringing Esteve into contact with

collectivist anarchism Collectivist anarchism, also called anarchist collectivism and anarcho-collectivism, Buckley, A. M. (2011). ''Anarchism''. Essential Libraryp. 97 "Collectivist anarchism, also called anarcho-collectivism, arose after mutualism." . is an anarchis ...

and Freemasonry. The following year, Esteve was elected as a

union representative A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a trades/labour union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the un ...

to the Catalonia congress of the FTRE. By 1885, he was a leading figure in ''La Academia'' and became a disciple of the anarchist theorist

Anselmo Lorenzo Anselmo Lorenzo Asperilla (21 April 1841 – 30 November 1914) was a Spanish anarchist activist and writer. He is known for his leading role in the early stages of the Spanish anarchist movement, for which he became known as "the grandfath ...

. By the mid-1880s, Catalan collectivist anarchists were increasingly coming into with

anarchist communism Anarchist communism is a far-left political ideology and anarchist school of thought that advocates communism. It calls for the abolition of private real property but retention of personal property and collectively-owned items, goods, and ser ...

, which had become the dominant anarchist tendency internationally. In 1886, Esteve helped to establish the anarchist newspaper ''El Productor'' and the

social center A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

''Regeneradón''. He became a

public figure A public figure is a person who has achieved fame, prominence or notoriety within a society, whether through achievement, luck, action, or in some cases through no purposeful action of their own. In the context of defamation actions (libel and ...

, speaking at

political demonstration A political demonstration is an action by a mass group or collection of groups of people in favor of a political or other cause or people partaking in a protest against a cause of concern; it often consists of walking in a mass march formati ...

s in towns throughout Catalonia. In 1888, he participated in the establishment of the syndicalist trade union confederation, the Pact of Union and Solidarity (PUS) and represented it at the Valencia congress of the FTRE, where the latter organization was dissolved. Later that year, at a commemoration of the

Haymarket affair The Haymarket affair, also known as the Haymarket massacre, the Haymarket riot, the Haymarket Square riot, or the Haymarket Incident, was the aftermath of a bombing that took place at a labor demonstration on May 4, 1886 at Haymarket Square (C ...

, police forced him to switch from the

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

to the

Castilian language Spanish () or Castilian () is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin spoken on the Iberian Peninsula of Europe. Today, it is a global language with 483 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

while he was giving a speech. Esteve subsequently complained in ''El Productor'' that

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

Catalan nationalists Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (, ), which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning, most people who define themsel ...

had not protested against this

linguistic discrimination Linguistic discrimination (also called glottophobia, linguicism and languagism) is the unfair treatment of people based upon their use of language and the characteristics of their speech, such as their first language, their accent, the percei ...

, accusing them of a lack of interest in protecting working class Catalans from discrimination.

Move to the United States

In 1889, the Italian anarchist

Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (4 December 1853 – 22 July 1932) was an Italian anarchist propagandist, theorist and revolutionary socialist. He edited several radical newspapers and spent much of his life exiled and imprisoned, having been jailed and expel ...

issued an appeal for anarchists to overcome their internal differences, to create an organized

political international A political international is a transnational organization of political parties having similar ideology or political orientation (e.g. liberalism, socialism, Islamism). The international works together on points of agreement to co-ordinate activ ...

and reorganize the movement within trade unions. Esteve took up Malatesta's appeal against political sectarianism within the anarchist movement and became a more active trade union organizer. On

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also called Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of Wage labour, labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every yea ...

of 1890, Esteve co-organized a week-long

general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...

to demand the

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses of working time. The modern movement originated i ...

. In 1891, Esteve and Fernando Tarrida del Marmol were delegated by the PUS to attend the International Socialist Labor Congress of Brussels, during which anarchists (including themselves) were expelled from the

Socialist International The Socialist International (SI) is a political international or worldwide organisation of political parties which seek to establish democratic socialism, consisting mostly of Social democracy, social democratic political parties and Labour mov ...

. Later that year, when Malatesta came to Barcelona, Esteve helped to propagate his ideas and accompanied on a lecture tour of Spain. When they arrived in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, they received news of the Jerez uprising, prompting Malatesta to briefly visit

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

before escaping to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Esteve followed him there and met numerous leading anarchists including

Jean Grave Jean Grave (; October 16, 1854, Le Breuil-sur-Couze – December 8, 1939, Vienne-en-Val) was an important activist in French anarchism and the international anarchist communism movements. He was the editor of three major anarchist periodicals, ...

Peter Kropotkin Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (9 December 1842 – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist and geographer known as a proponent of anarchist communism. Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended the Page Corps and later s ...

, Severino Merlino and

Louise Michel Louise Michel (; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and prominent figure during the Paris Commune. Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she began to embrace anarchism, and upon her return to France she emerged as an im ...

, before returning to Barcelona in February 1892. Three months later, ''La Academia'' was forced to close under police pressure. In July 1892, Esteve decided to emigrate to the United States. Upon his arrival in

, Esteve oversaw an increase in anarchist propaganda among

Spanish Americans Spanish Americans (, ''hispanoestadounidenses'', or ''hispanonorteamericanos'') are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from Spain. They are the longest-established European American group in the modern United States, with a ...

and helped make connections between them and

Italian Americans Italian Americans () are Americans who have full or partial Italians, Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeastern United States, Northeast and industrial Midwestern United States, Midwestern ...

. He began contributing to the newspaper ''El Despertar'' and, in September 1893, represented

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

and

at a conference in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, which intended to unify anarchists of different tendencies. After the conference, he travelled to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mai ...

, where he met the Italian anarchist Maria Roda, who became his partner and with whom he fathered five children. Back in New York, he returned to contributing to ''El Despertar''. Following the outbreak of the

Cuban War of Independence The Cuban War of Independence (), also known in Cuba as the Necessary War (), fought from 1895 to 1898, was the last of three liberation wars that Cuba fought against Spain, the other two being the Ten Years' War (1868–1878) and the Litt ...

in February 1895, the Cuban and Spanish anarchists of ''El Despertar'' were divided over the issue. Esteve opposed

separatism Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

, while his Cuban comrades supported it, leading to them splitting from the paper and leaving it under Esteve's editorship. This resulted in ''El Despertar'' losing support from the Cuban immigrant community. When the war ended in 1898, Esteve moved publication of ''El Despertar'' to

Paterson, New Jersey Paterson ( ) is the largest City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who Human migration, migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have an intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers ...

Activities in Paterson

Following a conflict between anti-organization anarchists and

social anarchists Social anarchism, also known as left-wing anarchism or socialist anarchism, is an anarchist tradition that sees individual liberty and social solidarity as mutually compatible and desirable. It advocates for a social revolution to eliminate hie ...

over the Paterson anarchist newspaper '' La Questione Sociale'', in August 1899, the latter faction gained control of the paper and appointed Esteve as its editor. He subsequently invited Malatesta to come to Patterson and participate in the newspaper's publication. After Malatesta's arrival, the anti-organization anarchists were expelled from the newspaper's editorial staff, provoking one to shoot and wound Malatesta. Malatesta continued collaborating with Esteve until March 1901, when he left the United States and returned to London. When one of the founders of ''La Questione Sociale'',

Gaetano Bresci Gaetano Bresci (; 11 November 186922 May 1901) was an Italian anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy. As a young weaver, his experiences with exploitation in the workplace drew him to anarchism. Bresci emigrated to the United Sta ...

, assassinated the

King of Italy King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...

Umberto I Umberto I (; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination in 1900. His reign saw Italy's expansion into the Horn of Africa, as well as the creation of the Triple Alliance among Italy, Germany an ...

, Esteve praised the attack as an exemplary act of

propaganda of the deed Propaganda of the deed, or propaganda by the deed, is a type of direct action intended to influence public opinion. The action itself is meant to serve as an example for others to follow, acting as a catalyst for social revolution. It is primari ...

. When the

occurred later that year,

political repression Political repression is the act of a state entity controlling a citizenry by force for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing the citizenry's ability to take part in the political life of a society, thereby ...

against the anarchist movement increased. Esteve then had to argue that anarchists were largely not violent, and that such violent attacks were only a response to state violence. By February 1902, ''La Questione Sociale'' had been left without funds and Esteve was forced to close ''El Despertar'' and leave the city. Between 1902 and 1905, Esteve went on a series of lecture tours of the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

, speaking on subjects such as trade union organizing and the

progressive education Progressive education, or educational progressivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. T ...

of the

Ferrer movement The Ferrer school was an early 20th century libertarian school inspired by the anarchist pedagogy of Francisco Ferrer. He was a proponent of rationalist, secular education that emphasized reason, dignity, self-reliance, and scientific observati ...

. In

, he participated in the establishment of the

(IWW), a syndicalist union open to immigrant workers. When he finally returned to Paterson, police immediately arrested and interrogated him, convincing him to move to

, with his family. He left the editorship of ''La Questione Sociale'' to Ludovico Caminita.

Later life

In Tampa, Esteve took over the ''Antorcha'', a social center for

freethinkers Freethought (sometimes spelled free thought) is an unorthodox attitude or belief. A freethinker holds that beliefs should not be formed on the basis of authority Authority is commonly understood as the legitimate power of a person or ...

of different nationalities, and established a Ferrer school to educate migrant students. Esteve had a difficult life in Tampa. During his move there, police intentionally damaged his belongings while they were in transfer. In September 1907, Esteve's son died in a petroleum explosion, in what Esteve himself believed to have been a state attack to force him to leave the country. In 1910, tobacco factory owners began

lynching Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged or convicted transgressor or to intimidate others. It can also be an extreme form of i ...

trade union activists during a strike, and in January 1911, conservative groups attempted to lynch Esteve himself after he published a pro-worker manifesto. He and his family escaped the lynchings and fled to New York, where Esteve went to work at ''Cultural Proletaria'' and recruited workers to join the IWW. After the government shut down the paper in October 1911, he became editor of the bilingual ''Labor Culture'' newspaper, which was likewise banned in mid-1912. Wary to avoid further censorship, he revived the paper as an exclusively Spanish language newspaper, ''Cultura Obrera'', in November 1912. In May 1913, it became the official organ of the IWW's maritime transport and tobacco workers' unions, and a social center was opened under its name. Esteve also collaborated on other anarchist publications, including

Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born Anarchism, anarchist revolutionary, political activist, and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europ ...

's magazine ''

Mother Earth Mother Earth may refer to: *The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies *Mother goddess *Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life Written media and literature * "Mother Ear ...

''. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

broke out, it caused a

schism A schism ( , , or, less commonly, ) is a division between people, usually belonging to an organization, movement, or religious denomination. The word is most frequently applied to a split in what had previously been a single religious body, suc ...

in the international anarchist movement, with Peter Kropotkin and Jean Grave declaring support for the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

, while Esteve and Malatesta opposed the war. In October 1914, Esteve published an open letter denouncing Kropotkin, which isolated him from sections of the anarchist movement. In November 1917, the United States government banned ''Cultura Obrera'' due to its anti-war stance and rising anti-communist sentiments following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. During the

First Red Scare The first Red Scare was a period during History of the United States (1918–1945), the early 20th-century history of the United States marked by a widespread fear of Far-left politics, far-left movements, including Bolsheviks, Bolshevism a ...

, Esteve found a job as an English translator for a Spanish publishing company. By the time the scare subsided in 1922, Esteve resumed publication of ''Cultura Obrera'' and established a library in its social center. On September 13, 1925, after participating in a picnic organized by ''Cultura Obrera'', he died from an

intracerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into Intraparenchymal hemorrhage, the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its Intraventricular hemorrhage, ventricles, or into both. An ICH is ...

Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's po ...

. Several anarchist activists wrote tributes for him, including Malatesta and Esteve's widow Maria Roda. He was also commemorated by a

Catalan nationalist Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (, ), which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning, most people who define themsel ...

group in New York, which he had been working with over the previous years. Facing financial difficulties without its editor, ''Cultura Obrera'' closed down in May 1927. Meanwhile, a Spanish anarchist federation began publishing a second run of ''Cultura Proletaria'', which continued publication until 1953.

Selected works

*''Socialismo Anarquista: La Ley, La Violencia, El Anarquismo, La Revolución Social'' (Paterson, 1902) *''Doctrina anarquista socialista'' (Paterson, 1905) *''Vest-Pocket Essays for the Laborer'' (New York, 1912) *''Reformismo, dictadura, federalismo'' (New York, 1922)

References

Bibliography

* *