Eugène Humbert / Henriette Jeanne Humbert-Rigaudin Papers

Period  (1863-) 1889-1986 (-1993)
Total size   3.37 m.
Consultation Not restricted
User restriction   Only microfilms can be consulted.

Biography

Eugène Jean-Baptiste Humbert: born in Metz, France 1870, died in Amiens 1944; libertarian and neo-malthusianist; publicist; influenced by the anarchist ideas of Lapique, his shoemaking master in Nancy; with some friends Humbert formed the group Liberté, which published a few issues of Le Tire-Pied; cofounder of the bimonthly for workers L'Indépendent in 1891; left for Paris in 1896 where he became a neo-malthusianist through Paul Robin; administrator of the Ligue de la Régéneration Humaine and director of its periodical Régéneration from 1902; after his break with Robin he founded Génération Consciente 1908-1914.

Henriette Jeanne Rigaudin: born in Romans-sur-Isère, France, 1890, died in Paris 1986; libertarian and pacifist, introduced into neo-malthusianist circles by her mother; publicist.

Humbert and Rigaudin met in 1908 when she went to work for Génération Consciente; they became companions and had a daughter, Lucette, in 1915; in 1914 Humbert had left for Spain escaping military service; reunited in Barcelona in 1916, they actively pursued peace propaganda; back in France in 1921 they both were imprisoned for neo-malthusianist propaganda and Humbert also for evading military service; after their release in 1924 they married; from 1926 Humbert was director of the Librairie du Progrès; in 1931 he founded La Grande Réforme, organ of the Ligue de Régéneration Humaine, for which both wrote many articles; Jeanne Humbert was member of the board of the Ligue Internationale des Combattants de la Paix (LICP) 1932-1935; during the German occupation they retired to Lisieux; in 1943 Humbert was again imprisoned for birth control propaganda and died in Amiens during a bombardment in 1944; after the war Jeanne Humbert restarted La Grande Réforme in 1946; she contributed to La Voie de la Paix, Le Monde Libertaire, Le Réfractaire and other periodicals; held many lectures on peace and on birth control; her publications include `En Pleine Vie' 1930, `Le Pourrissoir' 1932 `Sous la Cagoule' 1933, `Eugène Humbert, la vie et l'oeuvre d'un neo-malthusien' 1947 and `Sébastien Faure, l'homme-l'aôtre-une époque' 1949.

Content

Eugène Humbert papers: personal documents 1889-1914; correspondence with Jeanne c. 1909-1944, Lucette c. 1921-1944 and some other family members; correspondence with Berty Albrecht 1930-1934, Pierre Bellino c. 1929-1942, Félix Delmarle c. 1912-1924, Léonie Devaldès 1943-1944, Manuel Devaldès 1908-1944, Gabriel Giroud c. 1904-1944, Fernand Kolney c. 1909-1929, Jean Marestan c. 1910-1944, Victor Margueritte 1927-1939, Eugène Merle c. 1911-1938, Pierre Ramus 1933, Nelly Roussel (photocopies) 1904-1914, Jan Rutgers c. 1904-1916 and others; correspondence relating to Régéneration 1900-1908, Génération Consciente 1908-1914 and La Grande Réforme 1931-1939; correspondence relating to La Librairie du Progrès 1926-1928; `Lettre ouverte ̉M. le Sénateur Bérenger', with correspondence 1911; notes on `Principes de Philosophie Matérialiste' 1894; manuscripts of articles by Sébastien Faure, Camillo Berneri, Victor Margueritte and Gabriel Giroud.

Jeanne Humbert papers: diaries 1939-1962; personal documents 1915-1949; correspondence with Eugène c. 1909-1944, Lucette 1933-1976 and some other family members; correspondence with André Arru 1979-1983, Berty Albrecht 1930-1934, Jean Challaye c. 1939-1983, Francis B. Conem 1957-1959, Félix Delmarle c. 1912-1924, Léonie Devaldès 1938-1945, Manuel Devaldès 1945-1955, Gabriel Giroud c. 1904-1945, Louis Nucera 1974-1983, May Picqueray c. 1962-1983, Maurice Robin 1971-1978 and others; correspondence relating to La Grande Réforme 1946-1949; manuscripts; albums with clippings and correspondence relating to her books `En Pleine Vie', `Le Pourrissoir' an `Sous la Cagoule' 1930-1934; documents relating to the LICP 1932-1935; documents concerning the libertarian poet Paul-Napoléon Roinard c. 1911-1955 and her godchild the film maker Jean Vigo c. 1903-1975.

Papers of others: some correspondence and personal documents of family members 1863-1990; letters by Jeanne Humbert to Francis Ronsin (1940) 1979-1980.

Processing information

Inventory made by Tiny de Boer in 1995 and 2001

Alternate Form of Material

56 safety microfilms