Pierre Lambert
Encyclopedia
Pierre Lambert (real name Pierre Boussel) was a French
Trotskyist
leader, who, for many years acted as the central leader of the French Courant Communiste Internationaliste (CCI) which founded the Parti des Travailleurs
.
He was born in Paris
to a family of Russia
n Jewish immigrants. Lambert began his activity as a Trotskyist militant before the Second World War when he was a member of the Internationalist Workers Party
(POI) led by Raymond Molinier
. After the war he continued his activism, as a member of the now united French section of the Fourth International
, the Parti Communiste Internationaliste (PCI).
In the PCI he was known as a specialist in trade union
matters. When Michel Pablo
, the secretary of the Fourth International, raised the question of entrism sui generis
he took eventually came into opposition with this helped challenge Pablo within the French Section of the FI. He backed the PCI leadership around Marcel Bleibtreu
(also known as Pierre Favre).
differences between Lambert and Bleibtreu and Favre forced the latter two to leave the PCI. By this time, 1952, the PCI had split into two mutually hostile groups on the question of entrism sui generis and the associated perspective of hundreds of years of deformed workers states propagated by Pablo.
As leader of the PCI by 1954 Lambert forged an alliance with the Socialist Workers Party (USA) and others opposed to Pablo. Lambert lead the PCI to join with these anti-Pabloist fores to form the International Committee of the Fourth International
(ICFI). This alliance would last for nearly a decade at which point the SWP (US) and its international faction fused with the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, within which Pablo was now marginalised, to form the United Secretariat of the Fourth International.
Lambert was left in 1963 to continue the ICFI in an alliance with the Gerry Healy
-led Socialist Labour League, based in Britain. The much shrunken ICFI consisted at this point of the SLL, Lambert's Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (the PCI as rebranded in 1966) and smaller groups around Europe and Latin America, most notably the POR
in Bolivia lead by Guillermo Lora
and the Politica Obrera group in Argentina lead by Jorge Altamira
. By the time of the ICFI's congress in 1966, pressures were building between the OCI (which thought the SLL to be "ultimatistic") and the SLL. In 1971 the OCI left the ICFI to form the Organising Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International and in 1973 and 1974 proposed discussions to the USFI. This was supported by the US SWP but the Nicaraguan Revolution intervened in 1979 and instead the OCRFI eventually united with Nahuel Moreno
's group to form the Parity Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International
. The parity commission failed, leaving Lambert's supporters organised in the Fourth International (ICR)
. In 1996 the Fourth International (ICR) reproclaimed the Fourth International and goes by that name since.
Under his real name of Pierre Boussel, Lambert was candidate at the presidential election in 1988
. He gathered 116,823 votes (0.39 % of validly cast ballots).
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Trotskyist
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, who, for many years acted as the central leader of the French Courant Communiste Internationaliste (CCI) which founded the Parti des Travailleurs
Workers' Party (France)
The Workers' Party was a French socialist party. It was formed by the Trotskyist Internationalist Communist Party led by Pierre Boussel, better known under his pseudonym Pierre Lambert, together with a number of other socialists with whom they worked in the Force Ouvrière union...
.
He was born in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to a family of 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...
n Jewish immigrants. Lambert began his activity as a Trotskyist militant before the Second World War when he was a member of the Internationalist Workers Party
Internationalist Workers Party
The Internationalist Workers Party was a French Trotskyist party established in 1936 after the exclusion of militant Trotskyists from the French Section of the Workers' International in 1935 and dissolved in 1939 when most of the militants had rejoined the Workers and Peasants' Socialist Party...
(POI) led by 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...
. After the war he continued his activism, as a member of the now united French section 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...
, the Parti Communiste Internationaliste (PCI).
In the PCI he was known as a specialist in trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
matters. When Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo
Michel Pablo was the pseudonym of Michalis N. Raptis , a Trotskyist leader of Greek origin.- Early activism :...
, the secretary of the Fourth International, raised the question of entrism sui generis
Sui generis
Sui generis is a Latin expression, literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics. The expression is often used in analytic philosophy to indicate an idea, an entity, or a reality which cannot be included in a wider concept....
he took eventually came into opposition with this helped challenge Pablo within the French Section of the FI. He backed the PCI leadership around Marcel Bleibtreu
Marcel Bleibtreu
Marcel Bleibtreu was a French trotskyist activist and theorist.Bleibtreu was born during his family's refuge in Marseille from wartime bombing, Marcel Bleibtreu because a radical thinker as a child. After studies at the lycée Condorcet, he studied medicine in Paris, and graduated in 1947...
(also known as Pierre Favre).
differences between Lambert and Bleibtreu and Favre forced the latter two to leave the PCI. By this time, 1952, the PCI had split into two mutually hostile groups on the question of entrism sui generis and the associated perspective of hundreds of years of deformed workers states propagated by Pablo.
As leader of the PCI by 1954 Lambert forged an alliance with the Socialist Workers Party (USA) and others opposed to Pablo. Lambert lead the PCI to join with these anti-Pabloist fores to form the International Committee of the Fourth International
International Committee of the Fourth International
The International Committee of the Fourth International is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.-Foundation:The International...
(ICFI). This alliance would last for nearly a decade at which point the SWP (US) and its international faction fused with the International Secretariat of the Fourth International, within which Pablo was now marginalised, to form the United Secretariat of the Fourth International.
Lambert was left in 1963 to continue the ICFI in an alliance with the Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
-led Socialist Labour League, based in Britain. The much shrunken ICFI consisted at this point of the SLL, Lambert's Organisation Communiste Internationaliste (the PCI as rebranded in 1966) and smaller groups around Europe and Latin America, most notably the POR
POR
POR may refer to:* Punk-O-Rama, a series of compilations by Epitaph Records* P450 oxidoreductase* Country code for Portugal* Power-on reset* Principle of Relativity* Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin* Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance...
in Bolivia lead by Guillermo Lora
Guillermo Lora
Guillermo Lora was a Trotskyist leader in Bolivia. Lora was active in the Revolutionary Workers' Party from the early 1940s and was its best known leader....
and the Politica Obrera group in Argentina lead by Jorge Altamira
Jorge Altamira
Jorge Altamira , is an Argentine activist and politician leading the Workers' Party in Argentina.He was born José Saúl Wermus in Buenos Aires, in 1942. Son of a printing worker active in the Graphist Union, Altamira began participating in the labor movement at an early age, and took part in a...
. By the time of the ICFI's congress in 1966, pressures were building between the OCI (which thought the SLL to be "ultimatistic") and the SLL. In 1971 the OCI left the ICFI to form the Organising Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International and in 1973 and 1974 proposed discussions to the USFI. This was supported by the US SWP but the Nicaraguan Revolution intervened in 1979 and instead the OCRFI eventually united with Nahuel Moreno
Nahuel Moreno
Nahuel Moreno was a Trotskyist leader from Argentina. Moreno was active in the Trotskyist movement from before World War II until his death....
's group to form the Parity Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International
Parity Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International
The Parity Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International was an international regrouping of Trotskyists in 1981, claiming at the time to represent the majority of Trotskyists in the world....
. The parity commission failed, leaving Lambert's supporters organised in the Fourth International (ICR)
Fourth International (ICR)
The Fourth International was established as an "International Centre of Reconstruction" by co-thinkers of Pierre Lambert, in 1981 who argued that the post-war political evolution of the Fourth International under the leadership of Michel Pablo and Ernest Mandel had taken the FI away from the...
. In 1996 the Fourth International (ICR) reproclaimed the Fourth International and goes by that name since.
Under his real name of Pierre Boussel, Lambert was candidate at the presidential election in 1988
French presidential election, 1988
Presidential elections were held in France on 24 April and 8 May 1988.In 1981, the Socialist Party leader, François Mitterrand, was elected President of France and the Left won the legislative election. However, in 1986, the Right regained a parliamentary majority. President Mitterrand was forced...
. He gathered 116,823 votes (0.39 % of validly cast ballots).
External links
- Lambert biography (in French)
- De la IVe Internationale au Parti des travailleurs Tribute in LibérationLibérationLibération is a French daily newspaper founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Originally a leftist newspaper, it has undergone a number of shifts during the 1980s and 1990s...
, 16 January 2008