Victor Dave was a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

. Between 1865 and 1873 he worked for the German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 socialist

Socialism

Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 movement, but then, influenced by Bakunin and Proudhon, he converted 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...

, becoming a close associate of Johann Most

Johann Most

Johann Joseph Most was a German-American politician, newspaper editor, and orator. He is credited with popularizing the concept of "Propaganda of the deed". His grandson was Boston Celtics radio play-by-play man Johnny Most...

. Following four years of imprisonment in Germany for his activities, Dave moved to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where his more authoritarian anarchism was opposed by the anarcho-communist Josef Peukert

Josef Peukert

Josef Peukert was an Austrian anarchist known for his autobiographical book Memoirs from the proletarian revolutionary labour movement...

. Dave and Peukert led rival factions within the Socialist League

Socialist League (UK, 1885)

The Socialist League was an early revolutionary socialist organisation in the United Kingdom. The organisation began as a dissident offshoot of the Social Democratic Federation of Henry Hyndman at the end of 1884. Never an ideologically harmonious group, by the 1890s the group had turned from...

, which fought bitterly over Peukert's trust of Theodor Reuss

Theodor Reuss

Theodor Reuss was an Anglo-German tantric occultist, anarchist, police spy, journalist, singer, and promoter of Women's Liberation; and head of Ordo Templi Orientis.-Early years:...

. Though Reuss was later unmasked as a police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

 spy

SPY

SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...

, both Dave and Peukert were discredited by the dispute.

Dave often offered French lessons in the Commonweal

Commonweal (UK)

Commonweal was a British socialist newspaper founded in 1885 by the newborn Socialist League. Its aims were to spread socialistic views and to win over new recruits....

, and he collaborated in 1886 with Ernest Belfort Bax

Ernest Belfort Bax

Ernest Belfort Bax was a British socialist journalist and philosopher, associated with the Social Democratic Federation ....

 and William Morris

William Morris

William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...

 on a pamphlet about the Paris Commune

Paris Commune

The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...

; he also published an obituary on Felix Pyat

Félix Pyat

Félix Pyat was a French Socialist journalist and politician.-Biography:He was born in Vierzon , the son of a Legitimist lawyer. Called to the bar in Paris in 1831, he threw his whole energies into journalism...

 in the August 1889 Commonweal. By 1900 he was living 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...

 where he published a pamphlet on Bakunin and Marx. In 1903 he was involved in the publication two translations from Lassalle

Lassalle

Lassalle is a surname, and may refer to:Not to be confused with La Salle.* Ferdinand Lassalle , German socialist* Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle , French cyclist* Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle , Jesuit priest and Zen Buddhist...

. In Living My Life (1931), Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....

records her favourable impression of Dave during a visit to Paris around 1900: