Paule Mink
Encyclopedia
Paule Mink born Adèle Paulina Mekarska, was a French feminist and socialist revolutionary of Polish descent. She participated in the Paris Commune
and in the First International. Her pseudonym is also sometimes spelled 'Minck'.
Adèle became a republican and an opponent of the régime of Napoléon III sometime in the 1850s. As a young woman she was married to a Polish aristocrat, Prince Bohdanowicz, with whom she had two daughters, Anna and Wanda. Nothing much is known about this epoch in her life, but the marriage seems not to have been a happy one and ended in divorce. Neither the date of her marriage to, nor that of her divorce from, Bohdanowicz are known. Possibly marriage turned Adèle's thoughts toward the oppression of women. In 1867, she moved to Paris, where she gave language courses and worked as a seamstress. She also associated with Polish patriotic organisations and with revolutionary socialist circles.
Adèle first burst on the public scene in 1868, when she began speaking and writing about women's issues and socialism. She was convinced that the emancipation of women could only be fully accomplished through the abolition of capitalism. She contributed to the venerable journal La Réforme and joined the First International. With her friend André Léo she founded the oddly-named Female Workers' Fraternal Society (Société fraternelle de l'ouvrière). It was based on mutualist principles inspired by Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
. Adèle was now calling herself 'Paule Mink' or 'Minck' (she used both spellings) and became a tireless orator at socialist and feminist meetings. She was also active in providing aid to Polish refugees from the Russian empire.
At some time, Adèle had a relationship with the painter Jean-Baptiste Noro, with whom she had two more daughters, named Mignon and Jeanne-Héna.
went badly for Napoléon III, and in late 1870, his government fell. Paule Mink was then in Paris and became active in the defence of the besieged city. She supported the uprising of the Paris Commune
and was a prominent revolutionary orator at the republican clubs of St. Sulpice and Nôtre Dame. She was a member of the Committee of Vigilance of Montmartre and organised a free school for the poor at the church of St.-Pierre. With Louise Michel
, André Léo, Nathalie Lemel
, Anne Jaclard
and other prominent feminists, she organised a Women's Union and participated in the Commune's committee on women's rights. As always, she tirelessly advanced the argument that the struggle for feminism must be linked to the struggle for socialism. Paule Mink also made several tours to the provinces to drum up support for the Paris Commune in other cities; somehow she always managed to get through the German siege. She was absent on one of these tours during the Bloody Week (Semaine sanglante) and the suppression of the Commune. That is how she managed to evade capture and escape from France.
. She attended the fifth international Peace Congress at Lausanne. In spite of her associations with the anarchist followers of Proudhon
and Bakunin
, she was not an anarchist. She was close to many Blanquist
refugees, with whom she had collaborated in the Commune, and read the writings of Karl Marx
with interest.
In 1880, a general amnesty enabled Mink to return to France. She became involved in founding the French Workers' Party
(POF), led by Jules Guesde
and Paul Lafargue
. Guesde was a former anarchist who had converted to Marxism, and the POF was fiercely orthodox. She attended the POF's first congress at Le Havre as a delegate for the workers of Valence. Mink caused an uproar at some socialist meetings with her forthright feminism. Before long, she was also in trouble with the French authorities. In 1881 she was imprisoned for her role in a demonstration on behalf of the Russian refugee Jessy Helfman. Since Mink was formally considered a citizen of the Russian empire (in spite of having been born in France), the French government threatened to deport her to Russia, which would have been a disaster. To avoid this, she married a fellow revolutionary, the mechanic Maxime Négro. She had two more children with him, two sons, whose names betray her political sympathies: Lucifer-Blanqui-Vercingetorix-Révolution (who was born in 1882 an died in infancy) and Spartacus-Blanqui-Révolution (born in 1884, renamed Maxime by a civil tribunal). 'Lucifer' was chosen to proclaim her anti-clericalism, 'Blanqui' was in honour of the imprisoned veteran revolutionary Louis Auguste Blanqui
, 'Vercingetorix
' was a Gaulish chieftain who resisted the Roman empire, and 'Spartacus
' had led a major slave revolt in antiquity.
At some point in the 1880s Mink left the POF to join Édouard Vaillant's
Blanquist Socialist-Revolutionary Party
. However, Marxists and Blanquists collaborated increasingly closely, and in any case Mink seems not to have had a sectarian bent. In later years she again worked as an organizer for the POF, and she contributed to Benoît Malon's
non-sectarian journal Révue Socialiste. She also helped found, and contributed to, the feminist journal La Fronde in 1897, with Marguerite Durand
and others. In addition to her journalism and political activism, she wrote stories, poems and plays. Two of her plays were performed at the Théâtre Social in 1893. That year, Mink ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in elections for the National Assembly. Mink was also one of the founders of the feminist organisation 'Women's Solidarity', to which she belonged until 1900. In the late 1890s, she was an outspoken Dreyfusard (a supporter of the Jewish officer who had been wrongly accused of treason).
Paule Mink died on April 28, 1901. Her remains were cremated and buried at the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery. Her funeral was the occasion for a large demonstration of socialists, anarchists and feminists and ended in a violent brawl with the police.
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
and in the First International. Her pseudonym is also sometimes spelled 'Minck'.
Early life
Adèle Paulina Mekarska was born on November 9, 1839, in Clermont-Ferrand. Her father, Count Jean Nepomucène Mekarski, was a Polish officer who had gone into exile after the unsccessful Polish uprising of 1830; he was a relative of the last Polish king, Stanislas II. Her mother was an aristocrat, Jeanne-Blanche Cornelly de la Perrière. Adèle's parents were enlightened liberals who apparently became adherents of the utopian socialism of Henri de Saint-Simon. Adèle was well-educated, mostly by private tutors. She had two younger brothers, Louis and Jules; both participated in the Polish uprising of 1863 and in the Paris Commune.Adèle became a republican and an opponent of the régime of Napoléon III sometime in the 1850s. As a young woman she was married to a Polish aristocrat, Prince Bohdanowicz, with whom she had two daughters, Anna and Wanda. Nothing much is known about this epoch in her life, but the marriage seems not to have been a happy one and ended in divorce. Neither the date of her marriage to, nor that of her divorce from, Bohdanowicz are known. Possibly marriage turned Adèle's thoughts toward the oppression of women. In 1867, she moved to Paris, where she gave language courses and worked as a seamstress. She also associated with Polish patriotic organisations and with revolutionary socialist circles.
Adèle first burst on the public scene in 1868, when she began speaking and writing about women's issues and socialism. She was convinced that the emancipation of women could only be fully accomplished through the abolition of capitalism. She contributed to the venerable journal La Réforme and joined the First International. With her friend André Léo she founded the oddly-named Female Workers' Fraternal Society (Société fraternelle de l'ouvrière). It was based on mutualist principles inspired by Pierre-Joseph 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...
. Adèle was now calling herself 'Paule Mink' or 'Minck' (she used both spellings) and became a tireless orator at socialist and feminist meetings. She was also active in providing aid to Polish refugees from the Russian empire.
At some time, Adèle had a relationship with the painter Jean-Baptiste Noro, with whom she had two more daughters, named Mignon and Jeanne-Héna.
The Paris Commune
In 1870, Napoléon III went to war with Germany. As much a French as a Polish patriot, Paule Mink actively assisted in the French war effort and apparently distinguished herself to such an extent by her engagement at Auxerre that she was offered the Legion of Honour, one of France's highest awards. However, her love of France had not diminished her opposition to Napoléon III, and she refused the medal. The Franco-Prussian WarFranco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
went badly for Napoléon III, and in late 1870, his government fell. Paule Mink was then in Paris and became active in the defence of the besieged city. She supported the uprising of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
and was a prominent revolutionary orator at the republican clubs of St. Sulpice and Nôtre Dame. She was a member of the Committee of Vigilance of Montmartre and organised a free school for the poor at the church of St.-Pierre. With Louise Michel
Louise Michel
Louise Michel was a French anarchist, school teacher and medical worker. She often used the pseudonym Clémence and was also known as the red virgin of Montmartre...
, André Léo, Nathalie Lemel
Nathalie Lemel
Nathalie Lemel , was a militant anarchist and feminist who participated on the barricades at the Commune de Paris of 1871. She was deported to Nouvelle Calédonie with Louise Michel.-The Bookbinder:...
, Anne Jaclard
Anne Jaclard
Note: This article deals with the Russian-born nineteenth-century revolutionary, not with the American Marxist-Humanist theoretician Anne Jaclard....
and other prominent feminists, she organised a Women's Union and participated in the Commune's committee on women's rights. As always, she tirelessly advanced the argument that the struggle for feminism must be linked to the struggle for socialism. Paule Mink also made several tours to the provinces to drum up support for the Paris Commune in other cities; somehow she always managed to get through the German siege. She was absent on one of these tours during the Bloody Week (Semaine sanglante) and the suppression of the Commune. That is how she managed to evade capture and escape from France.
Later Years
Like many refugees from the Paris Commune, Paule Mink settled in Switzerland, where she associated with the anarchist leader James GuillaumeJames Guillaume
James Guillaume was a leading member of the Jura federation of the First International, the anarchist wing of the International. Later, Guillaume would take an active role in the founding of the Anarchist St...
. She attended the fifth international Peace Congress at Lausanne. In spite of her associations with the anarchist followers of 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...
and Bakunin
Mikhail Bakunin
Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin was a well-known Russian revolutionary and theorist of collectivist anarchism. He has also often been called the father of anarchist theory in general. Bakunin grew up near Moscow, where he moved to study philosophy and began to read the French Encyclopedists,...
, she was not an anarchist. She was close to many Blanquist
Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui was a French political activist, notable for the revolutionary theory of Blanquism, attributed to him....
refugees, with whom she had collaborated in the Commune, and read the writings of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
with interest.
In 1880, a general amnesty enabled Mink to return to France. She became involved in founding the French Workers' Party
French Workers' Party
The Parti Ouvrier Français was the first Marxist party in France, created in 1880 by Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, Marx's son-in-law...
(POF), led by Jules Guesde
Jules Guesde
Jules Basile Guesde was a French socialist journalist and politician.Guesde was the inspiration for a famous quotation by Karl Marx. Shortly before Marx died in 1883, he wrote a letter to Guesde and Paul Lafargue, both of whom already claimed to represent "Marxist" principles...
and Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue
Paul Lafargue was a French revolutionary Marxist socialist journalist, literary critic, political writer and activist; he was Karl Marx's son-in-law, having married his second daughter Laura. His best known work is The Right to Be Lazy...
. Guesde was a former anarchist who had converted to Marxism, and the POF was fiercely orthodox. She attended the POF's first congress at Le Havre as a delegate for the workers of Valence. Mink caused an uproar at some socialist meetings with her forthright feminism. Before long, she was also in trouble with the French authorities. In 1881 she was imprisoned for her role in a demonstration on behalf of the Russian refugee Jessy Helfman. Since Mink was formally considered a citizen of the Russian empire (in spite of having been born in France), the French government threatened to deport her to Russia, which would have been a disaster. To avoid this, she married a fellow revolutionary, the mechanic Maxime Négro. She had two more children with him, two sons, whose names betray her political sympathies: Lucifer-Blanqui-Vercingetorix-Révolution (who was born in 1882 an died in infancy) and Spartacus-Blanqui-Révolution (born in 1884, renamed Maxime by a civil tribunal). 'Lucifer' was chosen to proclaim her anti-clericalism, 'Blanqui' was in honour of the imprisoned veteran revolutionary Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui
Louis Auguste Blanqui was a French political activist, notable for the revolutionary theory of Blanquism, attributed to him....
, 'Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix
Vercingetorix was the chieftain of the Arverni tribe, who united the Gauls in an ultimately unsuccessful revolt against Roman forces during the last phase of Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars....
' was a Gaulish chieftain who resisted the Roman empire, and 'Spartacus
Spartacus
Spartacus was a famous leader of the slaves in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Little is known about Spartacus beyond the events of the war, and surviving historical accounts are sometimes contradictory and may not always be reliable...
' had led a major slave revolt in antiquity.
At some point in the 1880s Mink left the POF to join Édouard Vaillant's
Édouard Vaillant
Marie Édouard Vaillant was a French politician.Born in Vierzon, Cher, son of a lawyer, Édouard Vaillant studied engineering at the École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures, graduating in 1862, and then law at the Sorbonne. In Paris he knew Charles Longuet, Louis-Auguste Rogeard, and Jules Vallès...
Blanquist Socialist-Revolutionary Party
Socialist Revolutionary Party (France)
The Socialist Revolutionary Party was a French Blanquist political party founded in 1898 and dissolved in 1901. It is indirectly one of the founding factions of the French Section of the Workers' International , founded in 1905....
. However, Marxists and Blanquists collaborated increasingly closely, and in any case Mink seems not to have had a sectarian bent. In later years she again worked as an organizer for the POF, and she contributed to Benoît Malon's
Benoît Malon
Benoît Malon , was a French Socialist, writer, communard, and political leader....
non-sectarian journal Révue Socialiste. She also helped found, and contributed to, the feminist journal La Fronde in 1897, with Marguerite Durand
Marguerite Durand
Marguerite Durand was a French stage actress, journalist, and a leading suffragette.-Biography:Born into a middle-class family, Marguerite Durand was sent to study at a Roman Catholic convent...
and others. In addition to her journalism and political activism, she wrote stories, poems and plays. Two of her plays were performed at the Théâtre Social in 1893. That year, Mink ran unsuccessfully as a candidate in elections for the National Assembly. Mink was also one of the founders of the feminist organisation 'Women's Solidarity', to which she belonged until 1900. In the late 1890s, she was an outspoken Dreyfusard (a supporter of the Jewish officer who had been wrongly accused of treason).
Paule Mink died on April 28, 1901. Her remains were cremated and buried at the famous Père-Lachaise cemetery. Her funeral was the occasion for a large demonstration of socialists, anarchists and feminists and ended in a violent brawl with the police.
Sources and Links
- 'Paule Mink'. Ephemeride Anarchiste. Online at: http://epheman.perso.neuf.fr/novembre09.html.
- 'Paule Mink (1839–1901).' In: Femmes de la Commune. Online at: http://chipluvrio.free.fr/gdes%20femmes/gdes-femmes4.html#mink.
- 'Mink, Paule (1839–1901).' In: Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Farmington Hills, 2002.