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Alexander Berkman

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Alexander Berkman

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Also known as Owsei Ossipowitsch Berkman, Alexandre Berkman

Russian-American anarchist and writer (1870–1936)

OverviewAI-generated

Alexander Berkman (1870–1936) was a male writer, journalist, typographer, and peace activist. Born in Vilnius, he held citizenship in the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the United States, and France. His political ideologies included anarchism and anarcho-communism, and he identified as an atheist. Berkman spoke German, Russian, Yiddish, and English, with English serving as his primary writing language.

His notable works include *Now and After*, *Down with the anarchists!*, and the *Kronstadt diary*. He was convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917 and detained at the Federal Correctional Institution, Atlanta. Berkman’s archives are held at the International Institute of Social History. He was the unmarried partner of Emma Goldman.

Berkman died on June 28, 1936, in Nice from a gunshot wound, which was recorded as suicide.

Synthesized by Vinony from 34 facts across 6 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
21 November 1870
Died
28 June 1936
Works
34

Top works

  • Down with the anarchists!
  • Kronstadt diary
  • Now and After
  • The "anti-climax"
  • Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, plaintiffs-in-error, vs. the United States

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Male
Active from
1870
Active to
1936

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
14
Total plays
129

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Alexander+Berkman">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Alexander Berkman

Quotes

  • "Man's inhumanity to man" is not the last word. The truth lies deeper. It is economic slavery, the savage struggle for a crumb, that has converted mankind into wolves and sheep.
  • It is the system, rather than individuals, that is the source of pollution and degradation. My prison-house environment is but another manifestation of the Midas-hand, whose cursed touch turns everything to the brutal service of Mammon.
  • Liberty is an empty sound as long as you are kept in bondage economically. [...] Freedom means that you have the right to do a certain thing; but if you have no opportunity to do it, that right is sheer mockery. The opportunity lies in your economic condition, whatever the political situation may be. No political rights can be of the least use to the man who is compelled to slave all his life to keep himself and family from starvation.

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Ovsei Osipovich Berkman , ( 1870-11-21 ) November 21, 1870, Vilna , Russian Empire
Died
June 28, 1936 (1936-06-28) (aged 65), Nice , France
Burial place
Cochez Cemetery, Nice, France
Occupations
Writer anti-war and political activist
Family
Mark Natanson (uncle)

via Wikipedia infobox

~40 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Theory and practice

Anarchy

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Alexander Berkman” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (12)