Camille Pierre Langevin

Born Feb. 14, 1843, in Bordeaux; died May 30, 1913, in Paris. Member of the Paris Commune of 1871. Metal-lathe operator by trade.

Langevin joined the First International in 1867 and became a member of the Federal Council of the Paris sections, siding with the left Proudhonists. In July 1870, at the third trial of the Parisian organization of the First International, he was sentenced to a fine and imprisonment. During the siege of Paris by Prussian troops (1870–71), he was a master sergeant of the National Guard. He participated in the uprisings of Oct. 31, 1870, and Jan. 22, 1871. On Mar. 26, 1871, he was elected a member of the Paris Commune; he served as a member of the Commission of Justice. After the fall of the Commune, he emigrated, first to Great Britain, then to Germany. He was sentenced in absentia to death. After the amnesty of 1880, he returned to France. He helped organize workers’ consumer cooperatives.