Paul Avrich
Encyclopedia
Paul Avrich was a professor and historian
. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York
, for most of his life and was vital in preserving the history of the anarchist
movement in Russia
and the United States
.
, Avrich traveled to the USSR
as an exchange student in 1961 following Nikita Khrushchev
's 1959 visit to the United States. While there working on his thesis, The Russian Revolution and the Factory Committees, he researched the Kronstadt rebellion
and the role of anarchists in the Russian Revolution
. This information allowed him to produce pioneering and important works on these subjects.
Teaching at Queens College, he sought to communicate to his students an "affection and sense of solidarity with anarchists as people, rather than as militants." He was described as a "trusted friend" to many older anarchists whom he had met and interviewed, saving their stories for history.
Avrich wrote extensively on topics related to anarchism
, including books on Sacco and Vanzetti
, the Haymarket Riot, and the Kronstadt Rebellion
. Other important works include a biography of Voltairine de Cleyre
, The Modern School Movement (a study of an anarchist-inspired educational program
) and Anarchist Portraits, and an important oral history collection, Anarchist Voices (edited). He also spoke regularly at the Libertarian Book Club in New York.
Avrich donated his collection of nearly 20,000 twentieth-century American and European anarchist publications and manuscripts to the Library of Congress
.
He died on February 16, 2006.
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. He taught at Queens College, City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
, for most of his life and was vital in preserving the history of the anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
movement in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Life and work
He was born on August 4, 1931, the son of a Jewish family originally from OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Avrich traveled to the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
as an exchange student in 1961 following Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
's 1959 visit to the United States. While there working on his thesis, The Russian Revolution and the Factory Committees, he researched the Kronstadt rebellion
Kronstadt rebellion
The Kronstadt rebellion was one of many major unsuccessful left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War...
and the role of anarchists in the Russian Revolution
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
. This information allowed him to produce pioneering and important works on these subjects.
Teaching at Queens College, he sought to communicate to his students an "affection and sense of solidarity with anarchists as people, rather than as militants." He was described as a "trusted friend" to many older anarchists whom he had met and interviewed, saving their stories for history.
Avrich wrote extensively on topics related to anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, including books on Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
, the Haymarket Riot, and the Kronstadt Rebellion
Kronstadt rebellion
The Kronstadt rebellion was one of many major unsuccessful left-wing uprisings against the Bolsheviks in the aftermath of the Russian Civil War...
. Other important works include a biography of Voltairine de Cleyre
Voltairine de Cleyre
Voltairine de Cleyre was an American anarchist writer and feminist. She was a prolific writer and speaker, opposing the state, marriage, and the domination of religion in sexuality and women's lives. She began her activist career in the freethought movement...
, The Modern School Movement (a study of an anarchist-inspired educational program
Modern School (United States)
The Modern Schools, also called Ferrer Schools, were United States schools, established in the early twentieth century, that were modeled after the Escuela Moderna of Francesc Ferrer i Guàrdia, the Catalan educator and anarchist...
) and Anarchist Portraits, and an important oral history collection, Anarchist Voices (edited). He also spoke regularly at the Libertarian Book Club in New York.
Avrich donated his collection of nearly 20,000 twentieth-century American and European anarchist publications and manuscripts to the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
He died on February 16, 2006.
Works
From the Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme:- The Russian anarchists Princeton University Press, 1967; (Les Anarchistes russes; translated by Bernard Mocquot. Paris: Maspero, 1979; other translations in Japanese, Spanish and Italian)
- Kronstadt, 1921 Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1970 (La Tragédie de Cronstadt, 1921; translated by Hervé Denès. Paris: Seuil, 1975; other translations in Spanish and Czech)
- Russian Rebels, 1600-1800 New York: Schocken Books, 1972
- The Anarchists in the Russian Revolution New York: Cornell University Press, 1973 (Gli anarchici nella rivoluzione russa; translated by Michele Buzzi. Milano: La Salamandra, 1976)
- An American Anarchist: The Life of Voltairine de Cleyre 1978
- The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and Education in the United States 1980
- The Haymarket Tragedy 1984
- Anarchist Portraits 1988
- Sacco and Vanzetti, The Anarchist Background 1991
- Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America 1995
External links
- (Almost) Complete bibliography
- Love and Anarchy: A Profile and Interview with Paul Avrich
- Russian anarchists and the civil war by Paul Avrich
- Paul Avrich Obituary from Infoshop with selected bibliography
- Obituary by Marianne Enckell from CIRA via anarkismo.net
- Obituary from the Kate Sharpley Library
- Re-issued Paul Avrich books on anarchism, AK Press
- Paul Avrich page Daily Bleed's Anarchist Encyclopedia