Michail Aleksandrovič Bakunin Papers

Period (1823-) 1860-1876 (-1935)
Total size   1 m.
Consultation Restricted
Only the CD-ROM can be consulted. Permission required for consultation of the originals by the IISH
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Biography

Born in Prjamuchino, Tver', Russia 1814, died in Berne, Switzerland 1876; studied philosophy in Moscow and Berlin; involved in revolutionary activity in Paris, Prague, Dresden 1848-1849; arrested, imprisoned and then exiled to Siberia; escaped via the USA to London in 1861; involved in revolutionary activity in Slav emigré circles, then active in Sweden in connection with the Polish insurrection in 1863; organized secret societies in Italy in 1864, and in Switzerland in 1868; member of the International Working Men's Association (IWMA) from 1868, in opposition to the General Council (and Karl Marx) from 1869 on; made efforts at revolutionary organization in Russia, Spain and Italy1868-1874; present at the attempted insurrection in Lyon in 1870 and Bologna in 1874; one of the founders of the anarchist movement.

Content

Collection consisting of part of his papers and other original or copied documents (mainly acquired through Max Nettlau in 1935), and of microfilms of documents kept in Bologna, Dresden, Florence, St. Petersburg, Lyon, Marseilles, Neuchâtel, Paris, Rome, and elsewhere (mainly acquired for the IISH series `Archives Bakounine' as of 1959). The papers, left with his widow Antonia Kwiatkowska on his death, represent mainly his political activities; the private part was destroyed in Naples during the Second World War.

Michail Bakunin papers: some correspondence 1868-1869, 1872; manuscripts or parts of manuscripts of `L'Empire knouto-germanique et la révolution sociale' (partly photocopies), `Écrit contre Marx', `Réponse d'un international à Mazzini' and other writings; extracts and notes [1865], 1868-1875; documents, including manuscripts and correspondence relating to the Ligue de la Paix et de la Liberté, the International Working Men's Association (IWMA), Freemasonry, the Fraternité internationale, the Alliance internationale de la Démocratie socialiste, the Alliance de la Démocratie socialiste and projected clandestine organizations 1866-1872; articles, pamphlets and leaflets by Bakunin [1863] 1866-1872 and other printed material 1860-1874.

Collection: letters by Bakunin, including copies made by Nettlau, to Johann Philipp Becker, Celso Ceretti, Giuseppe Fanelli, James Guillaume, Anselmo Lorenzo, Tomás González Morago, Walerian Mroczkowski, Elisée Reclus, Adolf Reichel, Arnold Ruge, Alfred Talandier, Gustav Vogt and others (1843-) 1867-1875; copies of the `Carnets' and other writings by Bakunin made by Guillaume, Nettlau and others; manuscripts and proofs of translations of some publications by Bakunin; correspondence by Guillaume and Nettlau concerning Bakunin; manuscripts, notes and proofs of publications by Guillaume, Nettlau and others concerning Bakunin; pamphlets, copies of periodicals and other printed material concerning Bakunin 1876-1932.

Microfilms of the Bakunin family archives containing early correspondence with members of the family and the so-called Stankevič circle (among them Vissarion G. Belinskij) 1823-1840; scattered letters and other documents 1840-1848; papers of Natalija A. Herzen partly relating to Sergej G. Nečaev, Marija Reichel, Nikolaj Ogarev and Petr Lavrov 1860-1911; correspondence with Aleksandr I. Gercen and Nikolaj P. Ogarev 1860-1874; part of the papers of J. Guillaume relating to the IWMA, mainly in the Swiss Jura and the preparation of Guillaume's book on `L'Internationale' 1903-1910; manuscripts by Bakunin at the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris 1869-1871; part of the papers of the Committee investigating the activity of the Alliance de la Démocratie socialiste at the Hague Congress of the IWMA, including the report by Nikolaj I. Utin 1872; Saxon police archives relating to the Dresden insurrection in 1849; French departmental and police archives, mainly from Lyon, Marseilles and Paris, relating to French sections of the IWMA and the aborted insurrection in Lyon, 1870-1878; Bologna police archives relating to the development of the IWMA in Italy and the aborted insurrection in Bologna 1873-1874.

Processing information

Inventory made in 2003 by Kasja Weenink and Jaap Haag

Alternate Form of Material

Partly published in: Archives Bakounine. Textes établis et annotés par Arthur Lehning. 7 Vol. Leiden, 1961-1981; published also in: Bakounine. Oeuvres complète. CD-Rom Amsterdam, 2000.

Location of originals

Originals of the microfilms, microfiches and photocopies in various institutions; for specification see preliminary list at the archives department of the IISH