Robert Barcia, also known as Hardy and Roger Girardot (22 July 1928 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 ...
– 12 July 2009 in
Créteil
Créteil () is a Communes of France, commune in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris. Créteil is the ''préfecture'' (capital) of the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, dep ...
), was a French politician who was leader of the
Internationalist Communist Union
The Internationalist Communist Union (ICU; French: ''Union Communiste Internationaliste'') is an international grouping of Trotskyist political parties, centred on Lutte Ouvrière in France.
It believes that the socialist transformation of socie ...
(UCI), a
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 ...
organisation better known by the name of its weekly paper, ''
Lutte Ouvrière
Lutte Ouvrière (, ) is a Trotskyist communist party in France, named after its weekly paper. Arlette Laguiller was the party's spokeswoman from 1973 to 2008 and ran in each presidential election until 2012, when Nathalie Arthaud was the candi ...
'' (Workers' Struggle). Barcia was only known by his cadre name, Hardy, even to the majority of LO members.
Robert Barcia was born into a working-class family in Paris and was originally a member of the
Communist Party. He began his activity as a militant in 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 ...
. He then joined a tiny Trotskyist group, the
Union Communiste, led by Barta (
David Korner
David Korner (also known as Barta, Albert, and A. Mathieu; October 19, 1914 – September 6, 1976) was a Romanian and French communist militant, trade unionist, and journalist. A Trotskyist for most of his life, he was active in the labor mov ...
) a
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n
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 ...
. Given that the group was clandestine, all members adopted cadre names and there was a considerable stress on security within the group. This continues today as does the emphasis of the UCI on orienting towards workers in the workplaces.
The UC did not take part in the regroupment of the other French Trotskyist groups which took place in 1944 and led to the foundation of the
Internationalist Communist Party Internationalist Communist Party may refer to:
* Internationalist Communist Party (France), a French political party
* Internationalist Communist Party (Italy), an Italian political party
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