Voldemar Henrikhovych Antoni (; 1886–1974) was a Ukrainian

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 ...

intellectual and the founder of the Union of Poor Peasants.

Biography

Voldemar Antoni was born in Huliaipole, the son of Czech mechanic Henrik Aloisevich Antoni and German Susana Yakovlevna Bonelis. At the age of five, he began his education at the local public school, while living with his uncle, a saloon keeper. As he was quiet and short-sighted, Antoni came to be known by his classmates only as "the boy with the glasses". In 1901, he finished school and left home, eventually returning to Huliaipole when he was eighteen years old and becoming a teacher in the local

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

. When he was reunited with his old schoolmates, he discussed his newfound anarchist political philosophy with them, drawing from what he had learnt while working with the anarchist group in Katerynoslav. In the wake of the

1905 Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, Antoni established the Union of Poor Peasants, which developed connections with the Katerynoslav anarchist-communist group through Antoni. As the only member of the group that had a

higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...

, Antoni was in charge of producing the group's literature, securing a supply line of anarchist literature from Katerynoslav and

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 ...

, and organizing reading groups to spool through the works of

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (, ; ; 1809 – 19 January 1865) was a French anarchist, socialist, philosopher, and economist who founded mutualist philosophy and is considered by many to be the "father of anarchism". He was the first person to ca ...

Max Stirner Johann Kaspar Schmidt (; 25 October 1806 – 26 June 1856), known professionally as Max Stirner (; ), was a German post-Hegelian philosopher, dealing mainly with the Hegelian notion of social alienation and self-consciousness. Stirner is oft ...

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

and

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 ...

. He also held a strong influence on

Nestor Makhno Nestor Ivanovych Makhno (, ; 7 November 1888 – 25 July 1934), also known as Bat'ko Makhno ( , ), was a Ukrainians, Ukrainian anarchist revolutionary and the commander of the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine during the Ukrainian War o ...

, one of the group's younger members, "ridding his soul once and for all of the lingering remnants of the slightest spirit of servility and submission to any authority." The group carried out a number of attacks throughout 1906 and 1907, during which they stole money and assassinated a number of local police officers. Antoni then used the stolen money to produce anarchist propaganda and to procure weapons and explosives from

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. A prisoner from Katerynoslav named Nazarii Zuichenko, claiming to be a confidant of the Huliaipole anarchists, informed the police that Voldemar Antoni had masterminded the attacks and provided the group with weapons. During a raid on an anarchist meeting, Antoni was arrested and subsequently held for a month in prison, after which he was released due to a lack of evidence against him. While the police gathered further evidence of the group's activities, Antoni managed to escape and fled into exile in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where he continued to act as the group's weapons supplier, leaving leadership of the group to Oleksandr Semenyuta. Antoni eventually cut ties with the Huliaipole anarchists and emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. After decades of exile in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, Antoni became a " soviet patriot" and emigrated to

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

with his family in the 1960s. In October 1967, he returned to Huliaipole for the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, having lost any remaining shred of his former anarchist beliefs.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Chronological biography of Voldemar Antoni
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoni, Voldemar 1886 births 1974 deaths 20th-century anarchists Anarcho-communists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States People from Alexandrovsky Uyezd (Yekaterinoslav Governorate) People from Huliaipole Ukrainian anarchists Ukrainian communists Ukrainian emigrants to Belgium Ukrainian emigrants to Kazakhstan Ukrainian exiles Ukrainian people of Czech descent