Voltairine de Cleyre (1866–1912)
Born April 12, 1866, Leslie, Michigan, USA
Died June 20, 1912, Chicago, Illinois, USA (due to kidney failure)

Anarchist essayist, orator, poet, and leading figure in American individualist and non-sectarian anarchism.
Thomas Paine, Henry David Thoreau, Mary Wollstonecraft, and the Haymarket Affair.

Voltairine de Cleyre was one of the most eloquent and influential thinkers in the history of American anarchism.

Born in Michigan, she was named after the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. Her father, a physician, placed her in a Catholic convent school in Sarnia, Ontario, which she intensely disliked, fostering in her a lifelong commitment to anti-clericalism and free thought. She initially joined the burgeoning freethought movement, but her political views rapidly radicalized following the Haymarket Affair in 1887. The execution of the Haymarket anarchists, whom she believed were martyrs of state repression, transformed her from a liberal freethinker into a staunch anarchist.

De Cleyre initially aligned with Individualist Anarchism but evolved to advocate for "Anarchism Without Adjectives," a tolerant, non-dogmatic stance that accepted various economic systems (mutualism, collectivism, communism) provided they were based on voluntary association and freedom from state coercion. She wrote extensively on individual liberty, economics, and religion. Her most famous essays include "The Dominant Idea," which explores how a single, powerful conviction shapes a person's life, and "Anarchism," a definitive statement on her philosophy.

De Cleyre was a fierce proponent of women’s rights, identifying marriage as a form of "sex slavery" and criticizing the societal structures that oppressed women both economically and sexually. She was also deeply engaged in labor movements, spending many years living and teaching English to Jewish immigrant workers in Philadelphia.

Despite battling chronic illness (which ultimately led to her death at age 46) and surviving an attempted assassination in 1902, she remained a prolific writer and powerful orator. Though often overlooked during her life, her posthumously collected works secured her position as a foundational figure whose blend of impassioned prose and intellectual rigor continues to inspire radical thought.

Core Themes and Subjects
•	The Martyrdom of Activism: Many of her most famous poems commemorate radical figures and events. "At the Grave in Waldheim" and "Light Upon Waldheim" honor the executed Haymarket anarchists, whose trial was a pivotal moment in her own radicalization.
•	Feminist Resistance: Her work often attacked the "double oppression" of church and state regarding women's autonomy. Poems like "Bastard Born" explore the constraints of marriage, gender roles, and the reclamation of the female body.
•	Social Justice and Labor: She wrote extensively about the suffering of the poor and the dignity of workers in poems such as "The Road Builders" and "The Feast of Vultures".
•	Global Revolution: Toward the end of her life, she focused on international struggles, notably in "Written in Red,”which was dedicated to the Mexican Revolution.
•	Personal and Metaphysical Anguish: De Cleyre’s life was marked by chronic illness and poverty.

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