Anselme Bellegarrigue
Encyclopedia
Anselme Bellegarrigue was a French
individualist anarchist, born between 1820 and 1825 in Toulouse
and presumed dead around the end of the 19th century in Central America
. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848
, was author and editor of Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre and Au fait ! Au fait ! Interprétation de l'idée démocratique.
, via New York
, Boston
, New Orléans and the West Indies. These travels convinced him of the advantages of democracy and individual liberties.
Catalan historian of individualist anarchism
Xavier Diez reports that during his travels in the United States "he at least contacted (Henry David) Thoreau
and, probably (Josiah) Warren
.".
: as a young worker passes by saying « This time, we won't be robbed of our victory! » (a reference to the July Revolution
that had failed to instaurate a regime satisfying workers' demands), he responds : « Ah, my friend, the victory has already been robbed: hasn't a temporary government been declared ? ».
He also participated in the Société Républicaine Centrale (also called Club Blanqui), where he accused all of the political parties of the French Second Republic
of having hijacked the popular revolt into more authoritarianism and central concentration of power, calling them "the pox of nations". He refused to call the historical period a revolution, instead saying of it that "the evolution of 1848 has only been a consolidation of what was meant to be abolished" because "a Revolution must be the ruin not of a government, but of all government." While he was participating in a society composed mostly of socialist thinkers, he opposed all authoritarian measures and all social measures because he considered that any governmental intervention can be shown to be slavery of some by some others, or a violent conflict between men: "Anarchy is order, government is civil war."
He even mentioned concepts of civil disobedience
and voluntary servitude:
In 1849 he founded the Association des Libres Penseurs in Meulan
with some childhood friends, including Ulysse Pic (who then called himself Pic Dugers), in order to publish anarchist pamphlets; but the arrests of several members slowed and finally put an end to these activities.
He was also an editor for the daily La Civilisation from March 1849, a local newspaper selling about 2000 copies. For his friends of the Association des Libres Penseurs, he wrote an article titled « L'anarchie, c'est l'ordre » (Anarchy is order) in the 3 April 1850 issue of La Voix du Peuple, but this issue's publication was interrupted.
Later he wrote, edited and self-published his Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre of which two issues appeared due to low readership: the third issue, containing a study on the origin of wealth, was never published. According to Sharif Gemie, this journal constitutes the very first anarchist manifesto in the world
In 1851 he started writing a novel: "Le Baron de Camebrac, en tournée sur le Mississippi", published episodically until 1854, and an essay: "Les femmes d'Amérique" describing his observations on American society.
He participated in the writing of the Almanach de la Vile Multitude in 1851 and prepared an Almanach de l'Anarchisme for the year 1852, which was never published due to the French coup of 1851
.
, where, according to Max Nettlau, he was a professor, then in San Salvador
where he is said to have participated in the government.
According to his son (as reported by André Rault), after spending three years in San Salvador he decided to go back to natural life and settled on the Pacific Coast.
"Bellegarrigue stood near to Stirner
at the individualist end of the anarchist spectrum. He dissociated himself from all the political revolutionaries of 1848, and even Proudhon
, whom he resembled in many of his ideas and from whom he derived more than he was inclined to admit." Bellegarrigue's "conception of revolution by civil disobedience
suggests that in America
Bellegarrigue may have made contact with at least the ideas of (Henry David) Thoreau
".
"At times Bellegarrigue spoke in the words of solipsistic egoism. "I deny everything; I affirm only myself.... I am, that is a positive fact. All the rest is abstract and falls into Mathematical X, into the unknown.... There can be on earth no interest superior to mine, no interest to which I owe even the partial sacrifice of my interests." Yet in apparent contradiction, Bellegarrigue adhered to the central anarchist tradition in his idea of society as necessary and natural and as having "a primordial existence".
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
individualist anarchist, born between 1820 and 1825 in Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
and presumed dead around the end of the 19th century in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
. He participated in the French Revolution of 1848
French Revolution of 1848
The 1848 Revolution in France was one of a wave of revolutions in 1848 in Europe. In France, the February revolution ended the Orleans monarchy and led to the creation of the French Second Republic. The February Revolution was really the belated second phase of the Revolution of 1830...
, was author and editor of Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre and Au fait ! Au fait ! Interprétation de l'idée démocratique.
Early life
Not much is known about the childhood and young adulthood of Anselme Bellegarrigue. According to his close friend Ulysse Pic, he went to the Lycée d'Auch for some time, then traveled in order to make his own education: between 1846 and 1848, he visited North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, via New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, New Orléans and the West Indies. These travels convinced him of the advantages of democracy and individual liberties.
Catalan historian of individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism
Individualist anarchism refers to several traditions of thought within the anarchist movement that emphasize the individual and his or her will over external determinants such as groups, society, traditions, and ideological systems. Individualist anarchism is not a single philosophy but refers to a...
Xavier Diez reports that during his travels in the United States "he at least contacted (Henry David) Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
and, probably (Josiah) Warren
Josiah Warren
Josiah Warren was an individualist anarchist, inventor, musician, and author in the United States. He is widely regarded as the first American anarchist, and the four-page weekly paper he edited during 1833, The Peaceful Revolutionist, was the first anarchist periodical published, an enterprise...
.".
Participation in the 1848 French Revolution
Anselme Bellegarrigue came back to France on 21 February 1848, the day before the events that would end the reign of Louis-Philippe the 1st. He participated in the revolt but never ceased criticising the direction taken by the movement from the day following the end of the July MonarchyJuly Monarchy
The July Monarchy , officially the Kingdom of France , was a period of liberal constitutional monarchy in France under King Louis-Philippe starting with the July Revolution of 1830 and ending with the Revolution of 1848...
: as a young worker passes by saying « This time, we won't be robbed of our victory! » (a reference to the July Revolution
July Revolution
The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution or in French, saw the overthrow of King Charles X of France, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, who himself, after 18 precarious years on the throne, would in turn be overthrown...
that had failed to instaurate a regime satisfying workers' demands), he responds : « Ah, my friend, the victory has already been robbed: hasn't a temporary government been declared ? ».
He also participated in the Société Républicaine Centrale (also called Club Blanqui), where he accused all of the political parties of the French Second Republic
French Second Republic
The French Second Republic was the republican government of France between the 1848 Revolution and the coup by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte which initiated the Second Empire. It officially adopted the motto Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité...
of having hijacked the popular revolt into more authoritarianism and central concentration of power, calling them "the pox of nations". He refused to call the historical period a revolution, instead saying of it that "the evolution of 1848 has only been a consolidation of what was meant to be abolished" because "a Revolution must be the ruin not of a government, but of all government." While he was participating in a society composed mostly of socialist thinkers, he opposed all authoritarian measures and all social measures because he considered that any governmental intervention can be shown to be slavery of some by some others, or a violent conflict between men: "Anarchy is order, government is civil war."
He even mentioned concepts of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
and voluntary servitude:
- A democrat is not one who commands, but one who disobeys.
- You thought to this day that there were tyrants? Well ! You were in error, as there only are slaves: where no one obeys, no one commands.
In 1849 he founded the Association des Libres Penseurs in Meulan
Meulan
Meulan-en-Yvelines is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It hosted part of the sailing events for the 1900 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Paris, and would do so again twenty-four years later.-People:*Mbaye Niang footballer*Ibrahim Sacko...
with some childhood friends, including Ulysse Pic (who then called himself Pic Dugers), in order to publish anarchist pamphlets; but the arrests of several members slowed and finally put an end to these activities.
Anarchist publications
Anselme Bellegarrigue published, edited and authored several anarchist texts. In 1848, between October and December he published Au fait ! Au fait ! Interprétation de l'idée démocratique in Toulouse. With Ulysse Pic he edited Le Dieu des riches et le Dieu des pauvres and Jean Mouton et le percepteur.He was also an editor for the daily La Civilisation from March 1849, a local newspaper selling about 2000 copies. For his friends of the Association des Libres Penseurs, he wrote an article titled « L'anarchie, c'est l'ordre » (Anarchy is order) in the 3 April 1850 issue of La Voix du Peuple, but this issue's publication was interrupted.
Later he wrote, edited and self-published his Anarchie, Journal de l'Ordre of which two issues appeared due to low readership: the third issue, containing a study on the origin of wealth, was never published. According to Sharif Gemie, this journal constitutes the very first anarchist manifesto in the world
In 1851 he started writing a novel: "Le Baron de Camebrac, en tournée sur le Mississippi", published episodically until 1854, and an essay: "Les femmes d'Amérique" describing his observations on American society.
He participated in the writing of the Almanach de la Vile Multitude in 1851 and prepared an Almanach de l'Anarchisme for the year 1852, which was never published due to the French coup of 1851
French coup of 1851
The French coup d'état on 2 December 1851, staged by Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte , ended in the successful dissolution of the French National Assembly, as well as the subsequent re-establishment of the French Empire the next year...
.
Return to America
By the establishment of the French Second Empire, Anselme Bellegarrigue went back to America, in HondurasHonduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, where, according to Max Nettlau, he was a professor, then in San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
where he is said to have participated in the government.
According to his son (as reported by André Rault), after spending three years in San Salvador he decided to go back to natural life and settled on the Pacific Coast.
Bellegarrigue's anarchism
For anarchist historian George WoodcockGeorge Woodcock
George Woodcock was a Canadian writer of political biography and history, an anarchist thinker, an essayist and literary critic. He was also a poet, and published several volumes of travel writing. He founded in 1959 the journal Canadian Literature, the first academic journal specifically...
"Bellegarrigue stood near to Stirner
Max Stirner
Johann Kaspar Schmidt , better known as Max Stirner , was a German philosopher, who ranks as one of the literary fathers of nihilism, existentialism, post-modernism and anarchism, especially of individualist anarchism...
at the individualist end of the anarchist spectrum. He dissociated himself from all the political revolutionaries of 1848, and even Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
Pierre-Joseph Proudhon was a French politician, mutualist philosopher and socialist. He was a member of the French Parliament, and he was the first person to call himself an "anarchist". He is considered among the most influential theorists and organisers of anarchism...
, whom he resembled in many of his ideas and from whom he derived more than he was inclined to admit." Bellegarrigue's "conception of revolution by civil disobedience
Civil Disobedience (Thoreau)
Civil Disobedience is an essay by American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau that was first published in 1849...
suggests that in America
Bellegarrigue may have made contact with at least the ideas of (Henry David) Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, and leading transcendentalist...
".
"At times Bellegarrigue spoke in the words of solipsistic egoism. "I deny everything; I affirm only myself.... I am, that is a positive fact. All the rest is abstract and falls into Mathematical X, into the unknown.... There can be on earth no interest superior to mine, no interest to which I owe even the partial sacrifice of my interests." Yet in apparent contradiction, Bellegarrigue adhered to the central anarchist tradition in his idea of society as necessary and natural and as having "a primordial existence".
Quotes
- There are, in truth, no worse counter-revolutionaries than revolutionaries ; because there are no worse citizens than the envious.
- Power only possesses what it takes from the people, and for the citizens to believe that they have to give what they have in order to get welfare, their common sense must have been deeply distorted.
- It is only when everyone's authority is equal among everyone, that social equilibrium is obviously attained.
- A people that runs its own affairs is a self-governing people, and a self-governing people abolishes, by this very fact, and makes obsolete all the bazaar of legislation that popular agitation, more than the genius of the State's men, had engendered.
- Revolution is the flux of interests: no one can represent interests, they represent themselves. The intense force of these interests' persevering and calm manifestation is the only revolutionary force that is both reasonable and possible.
- One cannot redistribute wealth without first becoming master of all wealth; redistribution is first and foremost monopoly.
- If governing is called a job, I ask to examine the products of this job, and if those products don't suit me, I declare that forcing me to consume them would be the strangest abuse of power a man could exercise on another man. It is true that this abuse is done by force and that I am the one who supports, on my own coins, this force I am complaining about. That said, I'm coiling back on myself and recognize that though I am a victim, I am also an idiot. But my idiocy only stems from my isolation, which is why I say to my fellow citizens: Let's rise up; let's only trust in ourselves; let's say: let freedom be, and freedom shall be.
- So I hear that liberty without brakes is menacing. Who is she menacing? Who shall fear the untamed horse, but one who would tame it? Who shall fear an avalanche, but one who would stop it? Who trembles in front of liberty, but tyranny? A menacing liberty... one ought to say it's the opposite. What is frightening in her is the sound of her irons. Once those are shattered, she is no more tumultuous; but calm and wise.
- Government is not a fact, but a fiction. The only permanent and eternal fact is people.