Clement Duval
Clement Duval ([klemɑ̃ dyval]; * 1850 ; † 1935 in New York City ) was a French anarchist and author .
Life
Duval served as a soldier in the Battalion of the Fifth Infantry in the Franco-Prussian War , where he was injured by a mortar shell and contracted smallpox, which is why he spent four years in hospital over the next ten years. His inability to work forced him to steal.
After spending a year in prison for stealing 80 francs, he joined the leftist group The Panthers of Batignolles .
On October 25, 1886, Duval broke into the home of a member of the upper class, stole 15,000 francs and set a fire. Just two weeks later, he was arrested while trying to hide the stolen property. During the ensuing stay in prison, he stabbed the police officer Rossignol several times, who survived his injuries. The attempted murder drew many reporters to the trial, which resulted in chaos. Duval had to be forcibly removed from the courthouse while he was saying "Long Live Anarchy!" called. The death penalty was subsequently imposed, but his sentence was commuted to forced labor on Devil's Island off the coast of French Guiana.
In the anarchist magazine Révolte Duval stated: "Thieves only exist through the exploitation of a man by a man (...) if society denies you the right to exist, you have to take it. (...) The policeman arrested me in the name of the law, I murdered him in the name of freedom. "
Duval spent 14 years in prison, making 20 attempts to escape. In April 1901 he succeeded and escaped to New York City, where he lived until he died at the age of 85. His memoir was published in 1929.
Publications
- If you look, you will find: Cours d'allemand scientifique pour les vétérans , 6th edition 1965
- Better late than never: Cours d'allemand scientifique pour les débutants , 6th edition 1958
- Colorimétrie minérale: Bibliography sélectionnée des réactions depuis l'origine jusqu'à 1951
- Memorie autobiografiche. Biblioteca de L'Adunata dei refrattari, Newark 1929
Web links
- Literature by and about Clément Duval in the bibliographic database WorldCat
- Literature by and about Clément Duval in the catalog of the German National Library
- An anarchist on Devil's Island
- Clément Duval Page ( Memento of June 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Duval, Clement |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Duval, Clement |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | French anarchist, criminal and book author |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1850 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1935 |
| Place of death | New York City |