Ravachol

Saint Ravachol

The Interview of the Two Brothers (April 18, 1892)

July 11, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
THE RAVACHOL CASE Publication of the indictment. — Proceedings against “La Lanterne.” In our issue bearing the date of April 16, we published the indictment against Ravachol. For that, our manager today received a summons to appear, Wednesday, April 20, before the 8th district court. We will, moreover, have lots of company; for, as we have informed our readers, we have sent that subpoena to the Temps, and many of our colleagues have done as we have. ________ THE ANARCHISTS INTERVIEW OF THE TWO BROTHERS Henri Kœnigstein and Ravachol. — In the visiting room of the Conciergerie. — Attitude of […]
Saint Ravachol

Pierre Quillard, “Conversation on the Life and Death of Ravachol” (1892)

July 10, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_third padding=”0 10px 0 0px”][/one_third][two_third_last padding=”0 0px 0 10px”] CONVERSATION ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF RAVACHOL I see only condemnation to death which distinguishes a man, thought Mathilde: it is the only thing which cannot be bought. (de Stendhal — The Red and the Black.) These voices were heard near the sea, on a peaceful summer evening: half-naked, on the blond beaches, some men were lying lazily beside beautiful young women, and, although they lived today, the dying rays of the sun, the soft caress of the waves, the harmony of the twilight gave to their words and gestures […]
Saint Ravachol

Letter to Constant Martin, April 11, 1892

July 10, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
A letter from Ravachol One of our colleagues publishes a letter from Ravachol, communicated to him by an anarchist, Mr. Constant Martin, to whom it had been addressed. Here is the text of that letter:   Conciergerie, Cell 4, April 11, 1892.             Dear friend, I thank you for the feelings of gratitude and for your desire to see the trial go in my favor. I am not deluding myself. I am waiting to be sentenced to death. It is what I want, for live without liberty is too sad when one has the idea but cannot give it vigor. […]
Saint Ravachol

Letter to the Police Prefect

July 10, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
Paris, March 30, 1892       Monsieur Lozé I learn from the newspapers that you are sure of catching me. Well, let me tell you that you will not take me alive at least; dead, it is possible, I am throwing myself in the Seine in [   ] I have had enough of life. Do not look for the guilty ones in the explosions of the Blvd. St. Germain and the rue de Clichy, for you will not find them. I am the guilty party. It is the magistrates I wanted [to strike]. But pardon me, for I am going to […]
Saint Ravachol

“Did Ravachol’s Head Utter a Word?” (August 17, 1892)

May 18, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
Did Ravachol’s Head Utter a Word? London Daily Telegraph Ever since the execution of Ravachol a lively controversy has been going on as to the real nature of the “last cry” which he uttered just as the knife of the guillotine was falling upon his neck. Whether he intended to shout “Vive la République!” or “la Révolution!” or “la Révolte!” will never be known, as he had only cried: “Vive la re———” when his head was severed from his body. Several persons who were close to the guillotine declare that they distinctly heard the final syllables “———publique” issue from the […]
poetry

Albert Millaud, “Ravachol” (March 30, 1892)

May 18, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
[one_half padding=”0 10px 0 0px”] RAVACHOL Ravachol? Who knows Ravachol? Who knows how He is made? Is he a being? Is he a myth? Is he a man? Is he blond as honey, brown as a Spaniard? Is he small? average? stocky? short? tall? superb? Fat? lean? a bit of both? long-haired? bald? beardless? Alas! who will tell me how Ravachol is made? Ravachol? Where does he lie? Is he in France? in Asia? In Senegambia? or in Polynesia? Of what gulf, isle or cape does he tramp the soil? In what wood? on what mount ? in what virgin forest? […]
Saint Ravachol

Louise Michel, Today or Tomorrow (1892)

May 18, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
Today or Tomorrow. Louise Michel Everything is good that strikes or stings. So much the better if these bandits have finished their work. The scaffold has started the party, and the fire will beat its wings over the apotheosis. The blood of Ravachol splashes, from his false collar to his cuffs, the cold man of the Élysée. The Élysée! That’s the spot that draws the looks! From it the grand finale, the final bouquet will rise into the air, and the cross of Our Lady of the Slaughter will be the streetlamp. The sun has risen red in the prologue, […]
Saint Ravachol

Ravachol, My Ideas on the Army

May 17, 2015 Shawn P. Wilbur
My Ideas on the Army. (l‘Insurgé, September 16, 1893) ____ Since some have criticized my disobedience of the law on recruitment, I will explain my conduct here. If I refused to bear arms, it is because according to my principles I do not recognize border. For me, there is no foreigner. All the nations are sisters and I reckon that their children should love one another a bit more than they have thus far, thanks to the universal propaganda spread to prevent them from it. Whether we are born under the beautiful skies of Italy, in the cold lands of […]
Working Translations

Louise Michel, “Today or Tomorrow” (on Ravachol, 1892)

February 2, 2013 Shawn P. Wilbur
[Here’s another of the articles written shortly after Ravachol’s execution, in which Louise Michel added her bit to the Ravachol myth. There was a good deal of reference between the various contributions to L’Endehors. Michel began her article with a line from an article by Zo d’Axa and references Gustave Mathieu’s “The Little Ravachols will Grow.” This working translation is a little rough, but I’ll be finishing these as a group.] Today or Tomorrow. Louise Michel Everything is good which strikes or stings.[1] So much the better if these bandits have finished their work. The scaffold has started the party, […]
Contr'un

Charles Malato, “Some Anarchist Portraits” (1894)

December 12, 2012 Shawn P. Wilbur
–> FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW. No. CCCXXXIII. New Series.—September 1, 1894. SOME ANARCHIST PORTRAITS. I am an anarchist. I have known intimately most of those who have carried on the propaganda by word of mouth and by writing, and also by deed: and if I disallow the epithet of “anarchist,” as applied to certain acts of equivocal individuals, I am not the less convinced that social problems need, at certain moments, to be solved by force, when other means are ineffective. I love and admire Vaillant, for instance, just as some English republicans love and admire Cromwell, who also was a regicide. […]