Today in Labor History February 28, 1887: Clément Duval had his death sentence commuted to life in prison. He was a French anarchist and criminal whose ideas influenced the illegalist movement of the 1910s. The most famous illegalist was Jules Bonot, who orchestrated one of the world’s first bank heist utilizing a getaway car. According to Paul Albert, Duval’s story was the basis for the bestseller Papillon, about multiple escape attempts from Devil’s Island. In October 1886, Duval broke into the mansion of a Parisian socialite, stole 15,000 francs, and accidentally set the house on fire. His trial drew crowds of supporters and ended in chaos when he was dragged from the court, shouting "Long live anarchy!"

#workingclass #LaborHistory #prison #anarchism #illegalism #papillon #devilsisland #clémentduval #DeathPenalty #julesbonot #bankrobbery #books #novel #fiction #author #writer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History December 19, 1900: French parliament gave to amnesty everyone who participated in the scandalous army treason trial known as the Dreyfus affair. The scandal began in 1894 when the state convicted Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason. He was a 35-year-old French artillery officer of Jewish descent, falsely convicted for espionage and imprisoned on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Émile Zola's open letter “J'Accuse” helped build a movement of support for Dreyfus, putting pressure on the government to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France, retried and convicted again, but was pardoned and released. They eventually reinstated him as a major and he served during the World War I. Roman Polanski made a film about the affair called “J’Accuse,” after the Zola letter. However, much of Europe and the U.S. banned screenings of the film due to Polanski’s U.S. rape conviction.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #dreyfess #treason #antisemtisim #devilsisland #prison #deportation #jewish #zola #author #writer #fiction #books @bookstadon

Today in Labor History October 21, 1894: French anarchists incited a revolt on the penal colony of Île Saint-Joseph, in the Salvation Islands of French Guiana, which included the infamous Devil’s Island. The revolt was a response to the guards killing an anarchist prisoner. The uprising was quickly put down, with the guards slaughtering several anarchists, and torturing many more, some of whom later died from their wounds. Captain Alfred Dreyfus was held there (1895-98) after his wrongful, antisemitic conviction for treason. Charles Delescluze, libertarian socialist and future leader of the Paris Commune, was sent there in 1853. Clément Duval, a member of the Panther of Batignolles anarchist gang of robbers, spent 14 years on Devil’s Island, making 20 escape attempts. In 1901, he succeeded and fled to New York, where lived until his death at the age of 85. The first political prisoners brought to Guiana were Jacobins, in 1794. Numerous slave rebellions also occurred in the colony, until slavery was finally abolished, in the wake of the 1848 French Revolution. The novel and film “Papillon” takes place there, as does Joseph Conrad's short story “An Anarchist” (1906). Delescluze, who was killed on the barricades during the Commune, wrote an account of his imprisonment in Guiana, “De Paris à Cayenne, Journal d'un transporté.” And Duval wrote about it in his 1929 memoir, “Outrage: An Anarchist Memoir of the Penal Colony.” Guiana is the only continental South American territory to remain a European colony into the 21st century.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #prison #uprising #Revolution #anarchism #pariscommune #devilsisland #slavery #guiana #books #papillon #novel #memoir #writer #author @bookstadon

Today in Labor History March 29, 1935: French illegalist anarchist Clément Duval died. He was a major influence on other illegalist anarchists of the era, including members of the Bonnot Gang. In 1886, Duval robbed the mansion of a Parisian socialite. He was condemned to death, but his sentence was later commuted to hard labor on Devil's Island, French Guiana, setting for the novel Papillon. According to Paul Albert, "The story of Clement Duval was lifted and, shorn of all politics, turned into the bestseller Papillon." In a letter printed in the November 1886 issue of the anarchist paper Le Révolté, Duval famously declared: "Theft is but restitution carried out by an individual to his own benefit, being conscious of another's undue monopolization of collectively produced wealth."

#workingclass #LaborHistory #anarchism #prison #devilsisland #papillon #clementduval #bonnotgang #novel #fiction #books #author #writer @bookstadon

Today in Labor History February 28, 1887: Clément Duval had his death sentence commuted to life in prison. He was a French anarchist and criminal whose ideas influenced the illegalist movement of the 1910s. The most famous illegalist was Jules Bonot, who orchestrated one of the world’s first bank heist utilizing a getaway car. According to Paul Albert, Duval’s story was the basis for the bestseller Papillon, about multiple escape attempts from Devil’s Island. In October 1886, Duval broke into the mansion of a Parisian socialite, stole 15,000 francs, and accidentally setting the house on fire. His trial drew crowds of supporters and ended in chaos when he was dragged from the court, shouting "Long live anarchy!"

#workingclass #LaborHistory #prison #anarchism #illegalism #papillon #devilsisland #clémentduval #DeathPenalty #julesbonot #bankrobbery #books #novel #fiction #author #writer @bookstadon

ROUND 2 Poll 88

3D Desert Patrol (CRL Group PLC)
Chess - The Turk (Oxford Computer Publishing)
Devil's Island (Gilsoft International)
Yahtzee (Spectre)

1983 GAME OF THE YEAR
Top two games to go through to next round

#GameoftheYear1983 #ZXSpectrum #SinclairZXSpectrum #RetroGaming

#3DDesertPatrol #ChessTheTurk #DevilsIsland #Yahtzee

Today in Labor History December 19, 1900: French parliament gave to amnesty everyone who participated in the scandalous army treason trial known as the Dreyfus affair. The scandal began in 1894 when the state convicted Captain Alfred Dreyfus of treason. He was a 35-year-old French artillery officer of Jewish descent, falsely convicted for espionage and imprisoned on Devil's Island in French Guiana. Émile Zola's open letter “J'Accuse” helped build a movement of support for Dreyfus, putting pressure on the government to reopen the case. In 1899, Dreyfus was returned to France, retried and convicted again, but was pardoned and released. They eventually reinstated him as a major and he served during the World War I. Roman Polanski made a film about the affair called “J’Accuse,” after the Zola letter. However, much of Europe and the U.S. banned screenings of the film due to Polanski’s U.S. rape conviction.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #dreyfess #treason #antisemtisim #devilsisland #prison #deportation #jewish #zola #author #writer #fiction #books @bookstadon