Ravachol

Working Translations

Joannès Tobas, “Arrestation de Ravachol / Arrest of Ravachol”

February 24, 2021 Shawn P. Wilbur
There is a single, blurry image floating around the internet of a poster or broadside featuring a poetic complainte on the topic of the “Arrestation de Ravachol.” What I am presenting here is a rather less poetic reconstruction of the piece, featuring a different—significantly less blurry—portrait of Ravachol and a rather literal rendering of the account presented.

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Saint Ravachol

“Ravachol pas mort ! / Ravachol Not Dead!” (1975)

December 21, 2020 Shawn P. Wilbur
Ravachol pas mort ! Notre camarade François Claudius Koenigstein vient d’être le héros d’un exploit dont nous ne pouvons que nous réjouir : quatre-vingt-trois ans après sa mort, notre camarade (que nous avions tous pris l’habitude d’appeler Ravachol) a en effet réussi à s’évader du service de neuropathologie de l’hôpital de la Salpêtrière, à Paris, déjouant la vigilance du professeur Escourolle. Celui-ci gardait dans un placard de son laboratoire un bocal où la tête de notre camarade était conservée dans le formol. La demi-tête, plutôt, puisqu’elle fut fendue dans le sens de la hauteur après son exécution, en 1892, afin de […]
poetry

Paul Paillette, “The New Voice”

November 19, 2019 Shawn P. Wilbur
One of the missing pieces in my collection of Ravachol-related material has been the source of a phrase by Paul Paillette—often quoted, but always without enough information to even begin track it down: Ravachol-Jesus. I recently found a modern citation that at least gave me the name of the poem and, almost immediately after, was able to track down a copy of Paillette’s scarce collection, Les Tablettes d’un lézard, which contained the poem. The translation provided is very imperfect, but at least finally provides some context for the elusive phrase. VOIX NOUVELLE « De ces faits quels fronts vont porter […]
Saint Ravachol

“Ravachol is the hero of the day” (1892)

July 17, 2018 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_half padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] LA QUINZAINE. — Ravachol est le héros du jour. Triste héros, il est vrai, ce misérable anarchiste auquel Paris tout entier a dû quelques heures de terreur véritable. Ravachol, d’abord assassin, a pris comme deuxième spécialité la destruction des maisons de la capitale par la dynamite. Au boulevard Saint-Germain, puis à la rue de Clichy, deux maisons ont été fortement endommagées par suite des attentats dirigés ou exécutés par ce bandit que la police a fini par arrêter, grâce à l’intelligente initiative d’un simple garçon de café. La recherche de Ravachol, quelques jours introuvable, puis […]
Anarchist Beginnings

Ravachol, “My Principles” (1892)

August 29, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
Gentlemen, I am in the habit of engaging in propaganda wherever I find myself. Do you know what Anarchy is? We answered ‘No’ to this question. “That doesn’t surprise me,” he responded. The working class, which as you know is obliged to work to obtain its bread, doesn’t have the time to indulge itself in reading the pamphlets that are made available to it; it is the same for you. Anarchy is the annihilation of property. Presently there exist many useless things, many occupations which also useless, such as accounting, for example. With anarchy, there is no more need for […]
Saint Ravachol

A Handwritten Manuscript by Ravachol (1892)

July 5, 2016 Shawn P. Wilbur
If I had to pick the worst-case scenario for works that I have actually managed to translate, this manuscript piece, handwritten by Ravachol and then reproduced in a newspaper, probably takes the prize. The manuscript combines bad spelling, horrible penmanship, rotten grammar and nonexistent punctuation. Decoding it was a long process, but also a very entertaining one. [one_half padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] A HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT BY RAVACHOL Since his condemnation to death, Ravachol was written a great deal in prison. Here is a long handwritten text that we have been able to obtain, not without great difficulties. We have confided […]
Saint Ravachol

A Handwritten Manuscript by Ravachol (1892)

July 11, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
A HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT BY RAVACHOL Since his condemnation to death, Ravachol has written a great deal in prison. Here is a long handwritten text that we have been able to obtain, not without great difficulties. We have confided the reproduction of this interesting document to the house of Sédard in Lyon. It is written on two pages, and in it Ravachol explains his theories. [The manuscript combines bad spelling, horrible penmanship, rotten grammar and nonexistent punctuation. Decoding it has been a long process. But here is a rough translation.] Society can only be improved by a complete transformation of its […]
Saint Ravachol

Max Nettlau on the Ravachol Meetings (July 20, 1892)

July 11, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 0px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 0px”] [MAX NETTLAU ON THE RAVACHOL MEETINGS] JULY 20, 1892 Comrade, Having been present at the two meetings held with the object to discuss Ravachol’s acts, I should like to make a few remarks on the two currents dividing at the present time the anarchist movement. I have not read everything publishing on both sides as I am too old to crave for knowing what opinion this, that or the other authority expresses on the subject, but as I understand the three languages used at the meetings I could fairly follow the […]
Saint Ravachol

An Unexpected Interview (March 28, 1892)

July 11, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
AN UNEXPECTED INTERVIEW Conversation with the untraceable anarchist A reporter who has long followed the socialist and anarchist meetings came last night to tell us that, in a café near one of our great stations, he had encountered the elusive Ravachol, after whom all the bloodhounds of the prefecture of police have been sent. After we made inquiries about his identity, we thought we could welcome, at least on the grounds of curiosity, the details you are about to read: — There are many reasons why they won’t pinch Ravachol any time soon: first, that name is not his own; […]