Pierre Frank
Encyclopedia
Pierre Frank was a French Trotskyist
leader. He served on the secretariat of the Fourth International
from 1948 to 1979.
Educated as a chemical engineer, Frank was one of the first French Trotskyists, working with surrealist Pierre Naville
and the syndicalist Alfred Rosmer
. In 1930, he joined Trotsky on the island of Prinkipo to work as a member of the secretariat that prepared the first conference of the International Left Opposition. Returning to France, he was a leader of the Communist League
, the French Trotskyist organisation, in the 1930s.
After the rise of the 1934 Popular Front
government in France, Frank was a part of the faction within the movement led by his friend Raymond Molinier
that remained inside the SFIO
after the majority followed Trotsky's advice to leave. Frank and his co-thinkers were expelled from the Movement for the Fourth International
as a result. Frank was a founder-member of the "La Commune" group formed by Molinier. Ernest Mandel
comments that the group "was chiefly identified with a thorough-going preparation of anti-militarist and anti-imperialist work that earned them repression and persecution at the hands of the French imperialist government."
When the Second World War broke out, Frank was sent to Great Britain in order to continue legally publishing the movement's documents. He issued a publication called International Press Correspondence (Inprecor
) but, as an illegal resident, was briefly interned in a British concentration camp. Apart from the help of Betty Hamilton
, the British Trotskyists were not in sympathy with his views.
At the end of the Second World War he returned to France where his current campaigned for the reunification of the French Trotskyists. He joined the leadership of the Parti Communiste Internationaliste (PCI). At the 1948 World Congress he joined the international leadership team that included Ernest Mandel
and Michel Pablo
.
He was important in maintaining the PCI in the 1950s and into the 1960s. He was elected to the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 1963 and served as an editor of Intercontinental Press
. When the PCI was dissolved into the new Communist League in 1968, he was a part of the leadership and continued in it until his death.
He was the author of a history of Trotskyism entitled The Long March of the Trotskyists and Histoire de l'Internationale communiste (1919–1943), ed. La Breche, 1979.
His ashes are in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise.
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
leader. He served on the secretariat of the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
from 1948 to 1979.
Educated as a chemical engineer, Frank was one of the first French Trotskyists, working with surrealist Pierre Naville
Pierre Naville
Pierre Naville was a French Surrealist writer and sociologist. He was a prominent member of the 'Investigating Sex' group of Surrealist thinkers.In politics, he was a Communist and then a Trotskyist, before joining the PSU...
and the syndicalist Alfred Rosmer
Alfred Rosmer
Alfred Rosmer was a syndicalist leader before World War I and one of the few leaders of that movement to oppose the war from a revolutionary internationalist position....
. In 1930, he joined Trotsky on the island of Prinkipo to work as a member of the secretariat that prepared the first conference of the International Left Opposition. Returning to France, he was a leader of the Communist League
Revolutionary Communist League (France)
See Revolutionary Communist League for the other Ligue communiste révolutionnaire.The Revolutionary Communist League was a French democratic revolutionary socialist political party. It was the French section of the Fourth International...
, the French Trotskyist organisation, in the 1930s.
After the rise of the 1934 Popular Front
Popular Front (France)
The Popular Front was an alliance of left-wing movements, including the French Communist Party , the French Section of the Workers' International and the Radical and Socialist Party, during the interwar period...
government in France, Frank was a part of the faction within the movement led by his friend Raymond Molinier
Raymond Molinier
Raymond Molinier was a leader of the Trotskyist movement in France and a pioneer of the Fourth International. In 1929 he founded the journal La Vérité, and in March 1936 he and Pierre Frank co-founded the Parti communiste internationaliste, which merged with two other groups to form the Parti...
that remained inside the SFIO
Socialist Party (France)
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in France and the largest party of the French centre-left. It is one of the two major contemporary political parties in France, along with the center-right Union for a Popular Movement...
after the majority followed Trotsky's advice to leave. Frank and his co-thinkers were expelled from the Movement for the Fourth International
Fourth International
The Fourth International is the communist international organisation consisting of followers of Leon Trotsky , with the declared dedicated goal of helping the working class bring about socialism...
as a result. Frank was a founder-member of the "La Commune" group formed by Molinier. Ernest Mandel
Ernest Mandel
Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter , was a revolutionary Marxist theorist.-Life:...
comments that the group "was chiefly identified with a thorough-going preparation of anti-militarist and anti-imperialist work that earned them repression and persecution at the hands of the French imperialist government."
When the Second World War broke out, Frank was sent to Great Britain in order to continue legally publishing the movement's documents. He issued a publication called International Press Correspondence (Inprecor
Inprecor
Inprecor is a multilingual monthly Marxist magazine published by the reunified Fourth International. Its name is a contraction of International Press Correspondence and indicates that the magazine translates articles and letters from revolutionaries around the world.Inprecor was established by the...
) but, as an illegal resident, was briefly interned in a British concentration camp. Apart from the help of Betty Hamilton
Betty Hamilton
Betty Hamilton was a British Trotskyist.Born Berthe Dutoit in the Valais area of French Switzerland, the daughter of a socialist engineer, Hamilton moved to Paris as a young woman...
, the British Trotskyists were not in sympathy with his views.
At the end of the Second World War he returned to France where his current campaigned for the reunification of the French Trotskyists. He joined the leadership of the Parti Communiste Internationaliste (PCI). At the 1948 World Congress he joined the international leadership team that included Ernest Mandel
Ernest Mandel
Ernest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter , was a revolutionary Marxist theorist.-Life:...
and Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo was the pseudonym of Michalis N. Raptis , a Trotskyist leader of Greek origin.- Early activism :...
.
He was important in maintaining the PCI in the 1950s and into the 1960s. He was elected to the United Secretariat of the Fourth International in 1963 and served as an editor of Intercontinental Press
Intercontinental Press
Intercontinental Press was a weekly news magazine produced on behalf of the United Secretariat of the Fourth International between 1963 and 1986. The magazine was founded as "World Outlook" in 1963 under the editorial direction of Joseph Hansen, Pierre Frank and Reba Hansen. A parallel edition in...
. When the PCI was dissolved into the new Communist League in 1968, he was a part of the leadership and continued in it until his death.
He was the author of a history of Trotskyism entitled The Long March of the Trotskyists and Histoire de l'Internationale communiste (1919–1943), ed. La Breche, 1979.
His ashes are in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise.
External links
- Obituary by Ernest MandelErnest MandelErnest Ezra Mandel, also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter , was a revolutionary Marxist theorist.-Life:...
- Frank's writings from the Marxist Internet Archive
- The Lubitz TrotskyanaNet provides a bio-bibliographical sketch of Pierre Frank