Anarchy Man!

thin line

The Anarchist Encyclopedia:
A Gallery of Saints & Sinners ...

thin line



Gregory G.P. Grigori Maximov
// --

Grigori Petrovitch Maximov (1893-1950), Russian-American anarcho-syndicalist.

After studying for the priesthood, Maximov went to St. Petersburg, where he graduated as an agronomist at the Agricultural Academy in 1915.

He joined the revolutionary movement as a student, was an active propagandist &, after the 1917 revolution, joined the Red Army. When the Bolsheviks used the Army for police work & disarming workers, he refused to obey orders & was sentenced to death. Only the intervention & solidarity of the steelworkers' union saved his life.

In 1918 Maximov edited the anarchist-syndicalist papers Golos Truda (Voice of Labor) & Novy Golos Truda (New Voice of Labor). & became a leading figure in N.A.B.A.T. (Anarchist Organizations of Ukraine, organized by Voline) & secretary of the Confederation of Russian Anarcho-Trade Unions.

He was imprisoned by the Bolsheviks, along with other members of NABAT, on March 8, 1921, during the Kronstadt revolt, in the Taganka Prison, Moscow. Four months later he began a hunger strike for 10 & a half days & ended it only after the intervention of European Syndicalists attending the Congress of the Red Trade Union International secured their exile abroad.

Expelled, along with Voline & others, Maximov went to Berlin, where he edited "Rabotchi Put" (Labor's Path, or, Worker's Way), a paper of the Russian Syndicalists in exile & participated in founding the A.I.T. (umbrella organization of anarcho-syndicalists of 12 countries — FORA,, USI, SAC, FAUD, CNT, etc.— which encompassed several million members & was headed by Rudolf Rocker, Augustin Souchy & Alexandre Schapiro), as well as the "Committee of Defense of the Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia".

Maximov then moved to Paris, & then the U.S., where he settled in Chicago & worked as a tapestry maker & became a leading newspaper trade unionist of the I.W.W. (Industrial Workers of the world). He edited "Golos Truzhenika" (Worker's Voice) & later "Dielo Trauda-Probuzhdenie" (Labor's Cause-Awakening) until his death on March 16, 1950.



Entries cited in the Daily Bleed:

11/10/1893 -- Gregori Maximov (G.P. Maximoff), Russian anarcho-syndicalist, lives, Mitushino, Smolensk.


3/8/1921 -- Grigori Petrovitch Maximov, Russian anarcho-syndicalist, is imprisoned, along with the other members of the NABAT. Not released until autumn, following a hunger strike, when he is expelled from Russia with Voline. 7/9/1921 -- Russia: Emma Goldman & Alexander Berkman persuade some of the foreign delegates, including Tom Mann, to protest the imprisonment of Voline, G. P. Maximov, & other anarchists who have begun a hunger strike.
A delegation meets with Beloved & Respected Comrade Leader Lenin today; Lenin is only willing to deport the anarchists, upon penalty of death if they return to Russia. Offer is accepted

[Details, click here]

Expelled with Voline, Maximov takes part in the foundation of the A.I.T. in Berlin, as well as at the " Committee of Defense of the Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia".

Voline was instrumental in founding NABAT (Anarchist Organizations of Ukraine), which was meant to link various anarchist currents to work together towards common goals. It held its first conference on 18 November 1918.

The anti-authoritatian AIT was founded 22 December in Berlin, at the initiative of Rudolf Rocker. It was an umbrella organization consisting of numerous anarcho-trade unionists & organizations from 12 countries (FORA, USI, SAC, FAUD, CNT, etc.) & it membership reached several million members. Secretaries included Rocker, Augustin Souchy & Alexander Schapiro.





Program of Anarcho-Syndicalism
3/16/1950 -- Grigori Petrovitch Maximov (1893-1950), Russian anarcho-syndicalist, dies. Writer for "Golos Truda" (The Voice of Labor"), & author of a history of Leninism in Russia, The Guillotine at Work.

7/1/1954 -- US: In New York City, July 1954, Russell Blackwell, Esther & Sam Dolgoff form the Libertarian League, of which for a short time Murray Bookchin was a member. Earlier, in 1949, Gregory Maximoff initiated the Libertarian Book Club just before he died in 1950.

5/7/1973 -- US: Olga Freidlin Maximoff dies while Boris Yelensky is preparing the pamphlet by her deceased husband, G.P. Maximoff, for publication.



Cover: Syndicalists in Russian Revolution
//3500 --
Some Links:


MY SOCIAL CREDO

By G.P. Maximoff

"I believe that it behooves every honest individual to urge the toiling masses not to let the flames of revolution be extinguished. On the contrary, their orbit should be widened, through a stimulated alertness and independence and the creation of free labour institutions.

These should be of a type suitable to take into the workers' own hands, on the overthrow of capitalism, the organisation of a free life upon the just principles of dignified work."

PROGRAMME OF REVOLUTIONARY SYNDICALISM

by G.P. Maximoff

"Revolution is the destruction of the old order in all spheres of life. In the process of destruction, the Revolution produces disorder. This disorder, as it annihilates the forces of the old society, is in no danger of being suppressed during the first period of thc upheaval --- until the terrified elements of the old regime rally from the shock of the elemental onslaught and reassemble their forces. During this short interval the Revolution must establish its own order and must introduce a series of economic measures which will prevent or, at least, hamper the organisation of resistance on the part of the adherents of the old regime, and which will prove in themselves a factor of defense."

Last updated March 2004; March 2006

Use your back button to return to your previous page,

Or visit

The Anarchist Encyclopedia | Daily Bleed Calendar | The Stan Iverson Archives | The Anarchist Timeline

anti-CopyRite 1997-3000, more or less

Questions, suggestions, additions, corrections to David Brown at recall@recollectionbooks.com

The Anarchist Encyclopedia is freely sponsored & produced by Recollection Used Books

Cat Has Had the Time of His LifeRecollection Used Books Logo