Joseph Dejacque pioneering man of mystery

 

Man is an essentially revolutionary being. He cannot immobilize himself in one place. He does not live the life of boundaries, but the life of the stars

Joseph Dejacque was a man of many talents, a wall paper hanger, journalist and editor, philosopher, poer and social critic. He was also an early Anarchist-Communist and the first person to publicly proclaim himself a Libertarian through the newspaper Le Libertaire. Born in 1821 in humble beginnings as the fatherless son of a linen maker. He served in the French Navy briefly from 1841-43 and returned to civilian life as a store clerk. A few years later he became active within French socialist circles, he contributed to the Albert the Worker's newspaper L'Atelier (The workshop).

During the revolutionary upheaval of 1848 Dejacque was arrested for his support of the insurrection of Paris workers. He was released but then arrested again in 1851 for the publication of politically subversive poetry, though he escaped and fled France for London during the chaos of the coup that brought Napoleon III to power. He spent some time moving between London and Jersey where he associated with several French exile Anarchists like Gustave Lefrancais[1] and published La Question Revolutionnaire (The Revolutionary Question) an explicitly Anarchist text.

In 1854 he moved to the United States of America he remained active in the workers movement that was being established by exiles and immigrants from Europe. He was involved in the International Association[2] established in 1855 and managed to publish Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement Social (The Libertarian, Journal for the Social Movement) which was the first Anarchist-Communist publication in the USA and the first journal to use the term Libertarian. In 1861 the beginning of the American Civil war caused a depression that caused a slump and destroyed his finances. Le Libertaire folded, its last issue carried an appeal urging victory against the Confederacy.

Dejacque returned to France, a general amnesty had been passed which meant Dejacque didn't face prosecution for his previous political actions, though his prospects did not improve, he died a few years later in 1864. His last years were spent in extreme poverty.

The above text is a rudimentary biography, there is more information easily available in French, and while the English speaking world has shown less interest his life has been noted and his works are slowly being translated by Shaun P. Wilbur of the site Libertarian Labyrinth, and there is a twitter bot[3] that tweets out selected passages and links to his texts. The reason Dejacque is being rescued from the obscurity of his peers partly his association with the word Libertarian. In English especially its North American flavours the label Libertarian and Libertarianism have become associated with the most extreme philosophies of private capitalism and a callous disregard for human needs and social activity. Privately owned police and corporation run prisons. The American Libertarian Party, has put out statements denouncing the concept of civil rights and lamenting that women can now vote in the USA. 

Elsewhere in the world these words have maintained their original associations with Anarchism and socialism that rejects authority. Think the collectives of the Spanish Revolution and the Greek Anarchists reclamation of the Exarchia district. For English speaking supporters of these ideas the association with the former is to put it mildly extremely annoying. It's difficult to advocate for an alternative society when you have to battle associations of tyranny and turbo corruption. So being able to point to Joseph Dejacque the originator of the designation is obviously appealing. And from personal experience I know the pro child labour crowd do not appreciate the this bit of history being dragged up.  

But for me the importance of Dejacque goes deeper than satisfying victories in rhetorical disputes. Joseph Dejacque was a genuine working class intellectual and totally committed to the cause of freedom for all. He did not let poverty, political persecution or social pressures prevent him from openly declaring that the overthrow of exploitation even through violence was just.

Every insurrection, be it individual, be it vanquished in advance, is always worthy of the ardent sympathy of revolutionaries, and the more audacious it is, the more worthy it is as well.

While in America he was an ardent defender of John Brown's failed assault on Harpers Ferry, a stance which was not popular with much of that country. And beyond defend Brown and his small band he further defended their cause, publishing articles advocating a mass uprising of all serviles, the Black slave and White worker. Despite wishing to return to France he maintained his criticism of the actions of Napoleon's Empire including denouncing the military intervention in the second war of Italian independence. And despite having respect for the works of Pierre Proudhon he was so appalled by the open sexism of Proudhon's work that he penned an early open letter arguing for full equality between men and women[4]. 

And he was a opponent of dictatorship even in the service of noble causes. At the time socialism especially in France was dominated by the heirs of the Jacobins, who dreamed of establishing disciplined projects for societal rejuvenation. This was also true in the smaller explicitly communist socialists whose main proponent was Auguste Blanqui. In many ways he seems to have been nearly a hundred years ahead of many of his contempories. This of course was not the case, his views were based on his experiences and events at the time and in his recent past. 

Dejacque is an inspiration in words and in life, however there is one final bit of trivia. We know a surprising amount about Joseph Dejacque, but we don't know what he looked like. This may surprise you, a websearch will provide editions of his texts with old photographs on the covers. But not only are they not photographs of Joseph Dejacque, they aren't even photographs of the same person. By my count I have seen at least three different men confused with Dejacque, most commonly its a young Ravachol[5] or Imre Madoch[6]. This seems strange to us in the modern day, but it's perfectly understandable. Photography was still new and very expensive, Dejacque was poor and had to keep relocating to avoid repression so its not surprising he did not find the time or the money to have his portrait taken. As to how and why these men have come to be mistaken for him I do not rightly know. I can see how Ravachol could be mistaken for Dejacque given the obvious overlaps, but Madoch and the others?

Imre Madoch

Ravachol, I have also seen different photos of Ravachol being used for Dejacque

Will Europe always be enslaved, or will it finally be free?
Are we dogs or wolves?
Will you children be men or subjects?
Proletariat! It is up to you to respond; it is up to you to speak and act for the destinies.

___________________________________________________________

1: A Communard and supporter of Bakunin in the International Workingmen's Association. The poem that provided the lyrics to La Internationale the famous anthem of the labour movement was dedicated to him, he passed away in 1901.

2: The International Association was a international grouping linking French Socialists, German Communists, English Chartists and Polish revolutionaries. Its considered a forerunner to the International Workingmen's Association. 

3: Dejacquebot https://twitter.com/Dejacquebot

4: On the human being male and female, published in 1857.

5: Francois Claude Koenigstein, known as Ravachol was another French Anarchist famous for his bombing campaign against politicians and judges, in reprisal for the brutal repression of French workers. He was guillotined in 1892.

6: A Hungarian writer and aristocrat, he also has a very distinguished moustache.