Revolutionary who led the rising of 31 October 1870, became a general of the Paris Commune and was killed after capture on 3 April 1871
Born in Paris in 1838, the son of the physiologist Pierre Flourens, he lectured at the Collège de France in 1863 until his anti-religious and anti-Bonapartist views got the course banned. In exile in Belgium he drew close to the Blanquists, and he fought in the Cretan insurrection of 1866–1868. Back in France he wrote for Rochefort’s La Marseillaise; after a failed rising at Belleville in February 1870 he fled to England, where he became a familiar of Karl Marx. Returning after the Republic was proclaimed, he led a Belleville battalion of the National Guard and was one of the organisers of the rising of 31 October; imprisoned, he was freed by his men in January 1871. In March he was elected to the Commune and made a general, and on 3 April, after the sortie against Versailles, he was cut down near Rueil by a gendarmerie captain after his capture. He was the first Commune member to die.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1863Lecturer at the Collège de France
- 1866–1868Fought in the Cretan insurrection
- 1870Belleville National Guard battalion leader; organiser of the 31 October rising
- 1871Member and general of the Paris Commune
Related historical events
- 1870–1871The Franco-Prussian WarLeader of the rising of 31 OctoberOn 31 October 1870, when the surrender of Metz was confirmed, he led National Guard battalions with Blanqui and Delescluze to seize the Hôtel de Ville and hold Trochu’s cabinet hostage.
- 1870–1871The Paris CommuneMember and general of the CommuneLed the sortie against Versailles on 3 April 1871, which broke under the guns of Mont-Valérien; captured, he was killed by a gendarmerie captain.