Voltairine de Cleyre
Voltairine de Cleyre, Philadelphia, Christmas 1891
Born	November 17, 1866 Leslie, Michigan
Died	June 20, 1912 St. Mary's of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, Illinois

Voltairine de Cleyre (November 17, 1866–June 20, 1912) was, according to Emma Goldman, "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced"; yet she is not widely known even among anarchists today. Image File history File links Cleyere. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Leslie is a city located in Ingham County, Michigan. ... Official language(s) None (English, de-facto) Capital Lansing Largest city Detroit Area  Ranked 11th  - Total 97,990 sq mi (253,793 km²)  - Width 239 miles (385 km)  - Length 491 miles (790 km)  - % water 41. ... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Nickname: The Windy City, The Second City, Chi Town Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location in Chicagoland and Illinois Coordinates: Country United States State Illinois Counties Cook, DuPage Incorporated March 4, 1837 Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Area    - City 606. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... 1866 (MDCCCLXVI) is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) aka Red Emma, was a Lithuanian-born Anarchist known for her anarchist writings and speeches. ... This article or section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations. ...

Biography

Born in the small town of Leslie, Michigan, she was placed as a teenager into a Catholic convent by necessity, because her father could not support the family. This experience had the effect of pushing her towards atheism rather than Christianity. Family ties to the Abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad, along with the harsh and unrelenting poverty that she grew up in, and being named after the philosopher (Voltaire), definitely contributed to the radical rhetoric that she developed shortly after adolescence. After schooling in the convent, de Cleyre began her intellectual involvement in the Free Thought Movement (it being primarily anti-Catholic and anti-clerical) by lecturing and contributing articles to freethought periodicals. Leslie is a city located in Ingham County, Michigan. ... Atheism, in its broadest sense, is the absence of belief in the existence of deities. ... Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, and on his life and teachings as presented in the New Testament. ... This French poster depicting the horrific conditions on slave ships was influential in mobilizing public opinion against slavery. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows his find. ... Voltaire at 24 years of age by Nicolas de Largillière. ... Freethought is a philosophical doctrine that holds that beliefs should be formed on the basis of science and logical principles and not be comprised by authority, tradition or any other dogmatic or otherwise fallacious belief system that restricts logical reasoning. ...

During her time in the freethought movement in the mid- and late 1880s, de Cleyre was especially influenced by Thomas Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Clarence Darrow. Other influences during her life were Henry David Thoreau, Big Bill Haywood, and later Eugene Debs. After the hanging of the Haymarket martyrs in 1887, however, she became an anarchist. "Till then I believed in the essential justice of the American law of trial by jury," she wrote in a 1914 autobiographical essay, "After that I never could." This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Mary Wollstonecraft (circa 1797) by John Opie. ... Clarence Seward Darrow ca. ... Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862; born David Henry Thoreau) was an American author, development critic, naturalist, transcendentalist, pacifist, tax resister and philosopher who is most famous for his written account, Walden, a reflection upon simple living amongst nature, and his essay, Civil Disobedience... William Dudley Big Bill Haywood (February 4, 1869–May 18, 1928) was a prominent figure in American radical unionism as a leader in the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) and later as a founding member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). ... May refer to the politcal leader Eugene_V._Debs May also be in reference to a a debutante ball, a formal party undertaken by the leaving members of second-level schools in Ireland, most often in the month of August or September. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

She was known as an excellent speaker and writer — in the opinion of Paul Avrich, her biographer, she was "a greater literary talent than any other American anarchist"^{[citation needed]} — and as a tireless advocate for the anarchist cause, whose "religious zeal," according to Goldman, "stamped everything she did.... Her whole nature was that of an ascetic."^{[citation needed]} Paul Avrich is a professor and historian. ... The word ascetic derives from the ancient Greek term askesis (practice, training or exercise). ...

She was esteemed by Emma Goldman, and wrote an essay in her defense. However, the two women disagreed on some essential points: "Miss Goldman is a communist; I am an individualist. She wishes to destroy the right of property, I wish to assert it. I make my war upon privilege and authority, whereby the right of property, the true right in that which is proper to the individual, is annihilated. She believes that co-operation would entirely supplant competition; I hold that competition in one form or another will always exist, and that it is highly desirable it should." For several years de Cleyre associated herself with the American individualist anarchists and adopted the philosophy. In her 1894 essay In Defense of Emma Goldman and the Right of Expropriation, de Cleyre wrote in support of the right of expropriation while remaining neutral on its advocacy: "I do not think one little bit of sensitive human flesh is worth all the property rights in N. Y. city... I say it is your business to decide whether you will starve and freeze in sight of food and clothing, outside of jail, or commit some overt act against the institution of property and take your place beside Timmermann and Goldman." Eventually, however, de Cleyre was moved to reject individualism as well: "Socialism and Communism both demand a degree of joint effort and administration which would beget more regulation than is wholly consistent with ideal Anarchism; Individualism and Mutualism, resting upon property, involve a development of the private policeman not at all compatible with my notion of freedom."^{[citation needed]} This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Josiah Warren is the first American anarchist Individualist anarchism, while being advocated among some European philosophers in various forms, has a distinctive flavor in The United States of America. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ...

Instead, she became one of the most prominent advocates of "anarchism without adjectives," a movement in anarchism which focused on harmony between the various factions and did not advocate anything beyond the basic conception of anarchism as anti-state and anti-capitalist. In The Making of an Anarchist, she wrote, "I no longer label myself otherwise than as 'Anarchist' simply." This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

She ended arguing in "Why I am an Anarchist" that "the best thing ordinary workingmen or women could do was to organise their industry to get rid of money altogether . . . Let them produce together, co-operatively rather than as employer and employed; let them fraternise group by group, let each use what he needs of his own product, and deposit the rest in the storage-houses, and let those others who need goods have them as occasion arises." In 1912 she argued that the Paris Commune, while "making war upon the State, she had not made war upon which creates the State . . . the Commune respected property . . . [and] had left common resources in private hands . . In short, though there were other reasons why the Commune fell, the chief one was that . . . the Communards were not Communists. They attempted to break political chains without breaking economic ones." ("The Commune Is Risen") Le Père Duchesne face to the statue of Napoleon I on top of the Vendome column: Eh ben ! bougre de canaille, on va donc te foutre en bas comme ta crapule de neveu !… (Here! savage rascal, we will put you down just as your crook of a nephew!… The...

This, however, in no way contradicted her support for anarchism without adjectives as communist-anarchists, including Peter Kropotkin and Errico Malatesta, always stressed that in an anarchist society people who did not want to live as communists would be free to work their own land or tools. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Peter Kropotkin Prince Peter Alexeevich Kropotkin (In Russian Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин) (December 9, 1842 - February 8, 1921) was one of Russias foremost anarchists and one of the first advocates of what he called anarchist communism: the model of society he advocated for most of his life was that of a communalist society... Errico Malatesta Errico Malatesta (December 14, 1853 – July 22, 1932) was an anarchist with an unshakable belief, which he shared with his friend Peter Kropotkin, that the anarchist revolution would occur soon. ...

Her 1912 essay in defense of direct action is widely cited today. In this essay, de Cleyre points to examples such as the Boston Tea Party, noting that "direct action has always been used, and has the historical sanction of the very people now reprobating it." Direct action is a form of political activism which seeks immediate remedy for perceived ills, as opposed to indirect actions such as electing representatives who promise to provide remedy at some later date. ... The Boston Tea Party was a direct action protest by the American colonists against Great Britain in which they destroyed many crates of tea bricks on ships in Boston Harbor. ...

In her 1914 essay entitled Sex Slavery, de Cleyre condemns ideals of beauty that encourage women to distort their bodies and child socialization practices that create unnatural gender roles. The title of the essay refers not to traffic in women for purposes of prostitution, although that is also mentioned, but rather to marriage laws that allow men to rape their wives without consequences. Such laws make "every married woman what she is, a bonded slave, who takes her master's name, her master's bread, her master's commands, and serves her master's passions." A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. ... Prostitution is the sale of sexual services for money or other kind of return. ...

She also adamantly opposed the standing army, arguing that its existence made wars more likely. In her 1909 essay, Anarchism and American Traditions, she argued that in order to achieve peace, "all peaceful persons should withdraw their support from the army, and require that all who wish to make war do so at their own cost and risk; that neither pay nor pensions are to be provided for those who choose to make man-killing a trade."

She was close to and inspired by Dyer D. Lum, "her teacher, her confidant, her comrade". On June 12, 1890, she gave birth to a son, Harry, fathered by freethinker James B. Elliot. Throughout her life she was plagued by illness and depression, attempting suicide on at least two occasions and surviving an assassination attempt on December 19, 1902. Her assailant, Herman Helcher, was a former pupil who had earlier been rendered insane by a fever, and whom she immediately forgave. She wrote, "It would be an outrage against civilization if he were sent to jail for an act which was the product of a diseased brain." The attack left her with chronic ear pain and a throat infection that often adversely affected her ability to speak or concentrate. June 12 is the 163rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (164th in leap years), with 202 days remaining. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ... Depression, or a depressed mood, may in everyday English refer to a state of melancholia, unhappiness or sadness, or to a relatively minor downturn in mood that may last only a few hours or days. ... Suicide (from Latin sui caedere, to kill oneself) is the act of willfully ending ones own life. ... Assassination is the deliberate killing of an important person, usually a political figure or other strategically important individual. ... December 19 is the 353rd day of the year (354th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

Voltairine de Cleyre died on June 20, 1912, at St. Mary's of Nazareth Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, the cause of death being general septic meningitis with abcesses of sinus and brain on the left side. June 20 is the 171st day of the year (172nd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 194 days remaining. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 606. ... Official language(s) English Capital Springfield Largest city Chicago Area  Ranked 25th  - Total 57,918 sq mi (149,998 km²)  - Width 210 miles (340 km)  - Length 390 miles (629 km)  - % water 4. ...

A collection of her speeches, The First Mayday: The Haymarket Speeches, 1895-1910, was published by the Libertarian Book Club in 1980 and in 2004, AK Press released The Voltairine de Cleyre Reader. In 2005, two more collections of her speeches and article were published, one by SUNY Press entitled Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine De Cleyre - Anarchist, Feminist, Genius, and the other, Voltairine De Cleyre and the Revolution of the Mind, from University of Michigan Press. The Libertarian Book Club is an independent publisher and political organization, founded in the late 1940s by a group that included Gregory Maximoff, Sam Dolgoff and Valerio Isca. ... AK Press is a collectively owned and operated independent publisher and book distributor that specialises in radical and anarchist literature. ...

References

• A. J. Brigati. The Voltairine De Cleyre Reader. AK Distribution; ISBN 1-902593-87-1.
• Eugenia C. Delamotte. Voltairine De Cleyre and the Revolution of the Mind. University of Michigan Press; ISBN 0-472-09867-5.
• Margaret Marsh. Anarchist Women 1870-1920. Temple University Press; ISBN 0-87722-202-9
• Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell. Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine De Cleyre - Anarchist, Feminist, Genius. State University of New York Press; ISBN 0-7914-6094-0.

External links

• Collected Works of Voltairine de Cleyre at the Anarchy Archives
• "Voltairine de Cleyre" by Emma Goldman
• Essay on Voltairine de Cleyre by Sharon Presley
• "No Authority but Oneself" An Essay about Voltairine de Cleyre and American Anarchist Feminism by Sharon Presley
• Web site about Voltairine de Cleyre, including articles and biography
• Poems by Voltairine De Cleyre