Blanqui (English spelling) Louis Auguste Blanqui

French revolutionary and socialist. His father was a Girondist member of the French Revolution, and his brother was the famous liberal economist Adolphe Blanqui (1798-1854). While studying at the Collège, he joined the republican secret society "Carbonari", and joined the campaign to overthrow the Restoration monarchy, throwing himself into the street fighting of the July Revolution of 1830. Not satisfied with the establishment of the July Monarchy, he participated in the anti-government movement of the far-left republican society "Friends of the People", which led to his imprisonment. While in prison, he met Buonarroti, who followed Babeuf's egalitarian ideology, and became convinced of the revolutionary method of armed uprising by a small, elite secret society.

After 1835, he devoted himself to organizing secret societies such as the Society of Families and the Society of Seasons, but in 1839 he failed in an uprising and was imprisoned in Mont Saint-Michel. He became ill during the harsh conditions of imprisonment and was transferred to a hospital in Tours, but in 1848, upon hearing the news of the February Revolution, he returned to Paris. At this time, he placed his hopes in the Provisional Government and suppressed the activities of secret societies, placing emphasis on the political enlightenment of the people, centered on public clubs. Blanqui's revolutionary ideology was not necessarily based on elitism and the supremacy of uprisings, but he also placed special importance on educating the people after seizing power in order to realize an egalitarian social revolution. However, with the left wing retreating in the April elections, he was unable to suppress the rising uprisings from the lower ranks, and was imprisoned a third time for his involvement in the storming of the National Assembly on May 15 of the same year. As a result, he was unable to take command of the popular uprising in June (the June Affair). He remained in prison until the mid-1860s during the Second Empire, with only a brief break of about two years, during which time he had a great influence on young republican prisoners, and the so-called "Blanquists" were formed.

In 1865, he escaped from prison and fled to Belgium, but returned to France in August 1870 during the chaos of the Prussian-French War. While calling for a war to defend the Fatherland, he was involved in three uprisings, and was arrested again in March 1871, the day before the Paris Commune. The Communards offered to exchange 74 government prisoners for Blanqui, but the government, fearing his influence, refused. After the Commune was destroyed, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and kept under guard until he was pardoned in 1880.

Thus, he repeatedly participated in uprisings and was imprisoned throughout his life, spending a total of 43 years and 2 months in prison or in a similar position, before finally dying of a cerebral hemorrhage on January 1, 1881. Called an "incarcerated man" and a "martyr," he was greatly revered, and 100,000 mourners lined up to attend his funeral. However, as a "man of action," it is ironic that he was unable to take direct command of major, decisive events because he was imprisoned so often.

[Minoru Tanikawa]

"The Prisoners: A Biography of Blanqui, by Geoffroy, translated by Kyo Nozawa and Setsuko Kato (1973, Gendai Shichosha)" "Blanqui, The Revolutionary Essays, Volumes 1 and 2, translated by Haruyasu Kato (1968, Gendai Shichosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

フランスの革命家、社会主義者。父はフランス革命のジロンド派議員、兄は高名な自由経済学者アドルフ・ブランキAdolphe Blanqui（1798―1854）。コレージュ在学中から共和派秘密結社「カルボナリ」に加入、復古王政打倒の論陣に加わり、1830年の七月革命の市街戦に投ずる。七月王政の成立に飽き足らず、極左共和派結社「人民の友」の反政府運動に参加して投獄された。獄中でバブーフの平等主義の流れをくむブオナローティと知り合い、少数精鋭の秘密結社による武装蜂起(ほうき)という革命方式に確信を深める。

　1835年以後、「家族社」「季節社」など秘密結社の組織化に没頭したが、1839年の蜂起に失敗してモン・サン・ミシェルの獄につながれた。過酷な獄中生活で病を得てトゥールの病院に移送されるが、1848年、二月革命の報を聞いてパリに戻った。このとき、彼は臨時政府に期待して秘密結社活動を抑制し、公開のクラブを中心とした民衆の政治的啓蒙(けいもう)に重点を置いた。ブランキの革命思想はかならずしもエリート主義に基づく蜂起至上主義ではなく、平等主義的な社会革命実現のために、政権奪取後の民衆教育を格別重視するものでもあった。だが、4月の選挙で左派が後退するなかで、下部の突き上げを抑えきれず、同年5月15日の国会乱入事件に連座して三たび獄につながれた。このため6月の民衆蜂起（六月事件）の指揮をとることができなかった。以後、第二帝政の1860年代なかばまで約2年の小休止を除いて獄中にあったが、ここで若手の共和派の囚人たちに多大の影響を及ぼし、いわゆる「ブランキスト（ブランキ派）」が形成される。

　1865年、脱獄してベルギーに逃れたが、1870年8月プロイセン・フランス戦争の混乱に乗じて帰国。祖国防衛戦争を訴えるかたわら、3次にわたる蜂起に関与し、1871年3月、パリ・コミューンの前日にまたもや逮捕された。コミューン派は74人の政府側捕虜とブランキ1人との交換を申し入れたが、彼の影響力を恐れる政府側はこれを拒否した。コミューン壊滅後も終身禁錮刑を受け、1880年恩赦まで監視下に置かれた。

　こうして生涯蜂起と投獄を繰り返し、総計実に43年と2か月もの間、獄中もしくはそれに準ずる生活を送ったが、1881年1月1日脳溢血(のういっけつ)のためついに死去。「幽閉者」「殉教者」とよばれ、多大の尊崇を集めた彼の葬儀には10万人の会葬者が列を連ねたという。だが、あまりにたびたび獄中にあったため、決定的な大事件に直接指揮をとることができなかったのは、「行動の人」として皮肉であったといわなければならない。

［谷川　稔］

『ジェフロワ著、野沢協・加藤節子訳『幽閉者――ブランキ伝』（1973・現代思潮社）』▽『ブランキ著、加藤晴康訳『革命論集』上下（1968・現代思潮社）』

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