Gustave Adolphe Lefraneais

Gustave Adolphe Le Francais (1826-1901) was a member of the Paris Commune which was the socialist and revolutionary government that ruled Paris from 18 March to 28 May 1871.

Revolutionary anarchist militant, member of International Workingmen’s Association (IWMA), the Paris Commune, and the Jura Federation. Socialist teacher and advocate of La citi, but was sacked in 1847. The following year, he took part in the French Revolution of 1848. His involvement with socialist organisations led to him to being subject to police action. After the coup d’etat of the 1851, he fled to London. Here he met Joseph Dejacque with whom he ran a co-operative restaurant “La sociale“. 

In 1853, he returned to Paris, where he became a very popular socialist speaker. During the siege of Paris, he took part in the riots of October 31, 1870 for which he served four months in prison. On March 26, 1871, he was elected as a member of the Commune, but was opposed to the Committee of Public Safety, he was a combatant in the ” bloody Week “, but managed to flee to Switzerland to avoid arrest. As a member of the IWMA al, played a role in the creation of the Jura Federation and collaborated on various libertarian newspapers. 

 He returned to France in 1887.