Louis Auguste Blanqui
French socialist and political activist (1805-1881)
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Louis Auguste Blanqui was a French socialist and political activist who lived from 1805 to 1881 and participated in numerous revolutionary movements throughout his lifetime. He is historically significant as an influential figure in 19th-century socialist thought and practice, particularly for his ideas about how revolutionary change should occur.
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Person · Open Library
- Born
- 8 February 1805
- Died
- 1 January 1881
- Works
- 23
Top works
- Procés des accusés du 15 mai devant la Haute-Cour de Bourges compte-rendu exact de toutes les séances
- Instructions pour une prise d'armes
- Yildizlardan Ebediyete
- Eternity by the stars
- The Blanqui reader
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5 total works indexed
Article
Louis-Auguste Blanqui ( French: [blɑ̃ki]; 8 February 1805 – 1 January 1881) was a French socialist revolutionary and philosopher. A pivotal figure of the 19th-century French radical left, he was a staunch advocate for communism and a proponent of revolutionary theory that came to be known as Blanquism. His political career was marked by a relentless opposition to all forms of monarchy and capitalism, leading to his repeated imprisonment by every French regime of his lifetime. He spent 33 of his 75 years in prison, earning him the nickname L'Enfermé ("The Prisoner").
Blanqui's political thought was shaped by the legacy of the French Revolution, particularly its radical Jacobin phase. He argued for the necessity of a highly organised, revolutionary vanguard to seize power on behalf of the working class. Once in power, this vanguard would establish a temporary revolutionary dictatorship, centred in Paris, tasked with disarming the bourgeoisie, arming the proletariat, and implementing a programme of mass education. He believed that only after a period of enlightenment, which would eradicate the ignorance he saw as the root of oppression, could a truly egalitarian and communist society be established.
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1805 births1881 deathsActivists from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurBurials at Père Lachaise CemeteryCarbonariCommons link from WikidataFrench activistsFrench people of Italian descentFrench people of the Revolutions of 1848French prisoners sentenced to deathFrench socialistsMembers of the 2nd Chamber of Deputies of the French Third Republic