Today in Labor History December 16, 1871: Louise Michel went on trial for trying to overthrow the government during the Paris Commune. She would later be exiled to New Caldonia, where she became an anarchist and a school teacher for the children of colonists, as well as indigenous people there. During the Commune, she was elected head of the Montmartre Women’s Vigilance Committee. She also participated in the armed struggle against the French government. In her memoirs, Michel wrote the following about her state of mind during the commune: “In my mind I feel the soft darkness of a spring night. It is May 1871, and I see the red reflection of flames. It is Paris afire. That fire is a dawn.” She also wrote “oh, I’m a savage all right, I like the smell of gunpowder, grapeshot flying through the air, but above all, I’m devoted to the Revolution.”
You can read my biography of her here:
Michael Dunn
Louise Michel - Michael Dunn
Louise Michel was a leader of the 1871 Paris Commune and a founder of anarcha-feminism
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