This "intellectual" biography of Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912), a
leading figure in the anarchist movement, was written by Alice Béja, a
lecturer at Sciences Po Lille, based on an analysis of her speeches,
articles, poems, and short stories, as well as her correspondence, a
rarely used source. ---- After growing up in rural Michigan, Voltairine
de Cleyre lived in Philadelphia, where she frequented radical and
anarchist circles and gained recognition for her critical discourses on
religion and in favor of women's emancipation. Raised in a Catholic
convent in Ontario, Canada, she emerged an atheist and anticlerical
figure. This early experience of oppression proved to be a formative
one. Initially influenced by individualist anarchism, she turned to
communist anarchism after her exchanges with Dyer D. Lum and her meeting
with Emma Goldman in 1893, but always claimed to be "an anarchist, quite
simply, without an economic label." After the Haymarket bombing on May
4, 1886, and then the assassination of United States President William
McKinley in September 1901, the demonization and repression against
anarchists intensified. She was personally spared, arrested only once.
Voltairine de Cleyre criticized her male comrades for "reproducing in
their relationships the hierarchies and dominations they otherwise
denounce and for considering free love primarily as the possibility of
sleeping with whomever they want." Rather than campaigning for the right
to vote, that "scrap of paper," she defends "women's right to choose
their sexual partners, to express their desires, and to control their
bodies": "Freedom as she understands it must be built in all areas of
life, from the wallet to the bedroom."
A regular contributor to Mother Earth, she sharply criticizes the
alliances Emma Goldman forges with bourgeois intellectuals and artists,
believing that anarchism must belong to the working class.
Alice Béja recounts her various commitments, her stays in Europe, the
courses she gave at the Modern School of Chicago and elsewhere, and the
physical illness (inflammation of the sinuses, often accompanied by
severe tinnitus) and psychological illness (depression that regularly
overcame her) that would cause her to suffer throughout her life,
ultimately leading to her death on June 20, 1912.
The author intersperses letters addressed to Voltairine de Cleyre
between each chapter
June 1, 2025 by Commission journal AL / 64 views
The title contains letters addressed to Voltairine de Cleyre, an
expression of the familiarity born from her familiarity with her work
and life, an original process that allows for numerous commentaries.
After the publication of her texts by Lux, this biography will
undoubtedly contribute equally to awakening interest and curiosity in
this radical feminist and her thinking, which resonates with many
current debates.
Ernest London (UCL Le Puy-en-Velay)
Alice Béja, Voltairine de Cleyre. Anarchism, Feminism, and Free Love,
Éditions de l'Atelier, March 2025, 288 pages, EUR21.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Alice-Beja-Voltairine-de-Cleyre-Anarchisme-feminisme-et-amour-libre
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
leading figure in the anarchist movement, was written by Alice Béja, a
lecturer at Sciences Po Lille, based on an analysis of her speeches,
articles, poems, and short stories, as well as her correspondence, a
rarely used source. ---- After growing up in rural Michigan, Voltairine
de Cleyre lived in Philadelphia, where she frequented radical and
anarchist circles and gained recognition for her critical discourses on
religion and in favor of women's emancipation. Raised in a Catholic
convent in Ontario, Canada, she emerged an atheist and anticlerical
figure. This early experience of oppression proved to be a formative
one. Initially influenced by individualist anarchism, she turned to
communist anarchism after her exchanges with Dyer D. Lum and her meeting
with Emma Goldman in 1893, but always claimed to be "an anarchist, quite
simply, without an economic label." After the Haymarket bombing on May
4, 1886, and then the assassination of United States President William
McKinley in September 1901, the demonization and repression against
anarchists intensified. She was personally spared, arrested only once.
Voltairine de Cleyre criticized her male comrades for "reproducing in
their relationships the hierarchies and dominations they otherwise
denounce and for considering free love primarily as the possibility of
sleeping with whomever they want." Rather than campaigning for the right
to vote, that "scrap of paper," she defends "women's right to choose
their sexual partners, to express their desires, and to control their
bodies": "Freedom as she understands it must be built in all areas of
life, from the wallet to the bedroom."
A regular contributor to Mother Earth, she sharply criticizes the
alliances Emma Goldman forges with bourgeois intellectuals and artists,
believing that anarchism must belong to the working class.
Alice Béja recounts her various commitments, her stays in Europe, the
courses she gave at the Modern School of Chicago and elsewhere, and the
physical illness (inflammation of the sinuses, often accompanied by
severe tinnitus) and psychological illness (depression that regularly
overcame her) that would cause her to suffer throughout her life,
ultimately leading to her death on June 20, 1912.
The author intersperses letters addressed to Voltairine de Cleyre
between each chapter
June 1, 2025 by Commission journal AL / 64 views
The title contains letters addressed to Voltairine de Cleyre, an
expression of the familiarity born from her familiarity with her work
and life, an original process that allows for numerous commentaries.
After the publication of her texts by Lux, this biography will
undoubtedly contribute equally to awakening interest and curiosity in
this radical feminist and her thinking, which resonates with many
current debates.
Ernest London (UCL Le Puy-en-Velay)
Alice Béja, Voltairine de Cleyre. Anarchism, Feminism, and Free Love,
Éditions de l'Atelier, March 2025, 288 pages, EUR21.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lire-Alice-Beja-Voltairine-de-Cleyre-Anarchisme-feminisme-et-amour-libre
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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