Louise Michel
(1830-1905)
Died aged 74
Wikidata WikipediaLouise Michel (French: [lwiz miʃɛl]; 29 May 1830 – 9 January 1905) was a teacher and important figure in the Paris Commune. Following her penal transportation to New Caledonia she embraced anarchism. When returning to France she emerged as an important French anarchist and went on speaking tours across Europe. The journalist Brian Doherty has called her the "French grande dame of anarchy." Her use of a black flag at a demonstration in Paris in March 1883 was also the earliest known of what would become known as the anarchy black flag.
DbPedia
Commemorated on 2 plaques
Ici en l’Hôtel de l’Oasis est décédée le 9 janvier 1905, Louise Michel, héroïne de la commune et militante anarchiste
English translation: Here in the Hôtel de l'Oasis passed away on January 9, 1905, Louise Michel, heroine of the commune and anarchist activist [AWS Translate]
Duc Hotel, 19 Boulevard Dugommier, Marseille, France where they died (1905)
Louise Michel directrice d'école. "Vers la fin de l'Empire, j'habitais avec ma mère une petite demeure gaie et proprette où j'avais installé mon école. Je ne tardais pas à avoir beaucoup d'élèves. J'aimais ces enfants de Montmartre, gentiles et franches, espiègles et bavardes comme de jeunes oiseaux..." Née le 29 mai 1830 à Vroncourt (Haute Marne), fille du châtelain et d'une servante, Louise Michel commence sa carrière d'institutrice en 1853, après de solides études. Venue à Paris en 1856, elle découvre, devant la misère des enfants, sa vocation à mener une vie "de propagande et d'action". Ambulancière pendant le siège de Paris, elle participe sous la Commune au comité de vigilance de Montmartre, chargée des questions d'enseignement, et n'hésite pas à sa battre sur les barricades en mai 1871. Sa mère prise en otage par les Versaillais, elle se constitue prisonnière et se voit condamnée à la déportation en Nouvelle-Calédonie; amnistiée en 1880, elle choisit, après avoir connu de nouveaux emprisonnements, de s'exiler à Londres de 1890 à 1904. Elle vit désormais de ses livres et de ses conférences, jusqu'à sa mort à Marseille, le 10 janvier 1905.
English translation: Louise Michel, principal. “Towards the end of the Empire, I lived with my mother in a small, cheerful and clean house where I had set up my school. I had a lot of students soon. I loved these nice and honest Montmartre children, mischievous and chatty like young birds...” Born on 29 May 1830 in Vroncourt (Haute Marne), daughter of the chestnut and a servant, Louise Michel began her teaching career in 1853, after solid studies. Coming to Paris in 1856, she discovered, in the face of the misery of children, her vocation to lead a life of “propaganda and action”. Ambulancière during the siege of Paris, she participated under the Commune in the vigilance committee of Montmartre, responsible for teaching matters, and did not hesitate to beat her on the barricades in May 1871. Her mother, taken hostage by the Versaillais, became a prisoner and was sentenced to deportation to New Caledonia; amnesty in 1880, she chose, after having experienced further imprisonment, to exile to London from 1890 to 1904. She now lives from her books and lectures until her death in Marseille on 10 January 1905. [AWS Translate]
22 rue Becquerel, Paris, France where they lived