Blanqui, JÉRÔME ADOLPHE

Blanqui, JÉRÔME ADOLPHE, a French economist, was born in 1798 at Nice, and commenced the study of philology at Paris, where he became acquainted with J. B. Say, who induced him to turn his attention to political economy. In 1833, on the death of Say, he was appointed professor of Industrial Economy in the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers, and became one of the editors of the Dictionnaire de l'Industrie. In 1838 he became a member of the Academy of Moral and Political Science. Subsequently he travelled in several countries to study their economic condition. He died at Paris 28th January 1854. As a political economist, Blanqui was a follower of Say, and in favour of free-trade, and he recognised the social difficulties of his time. In method, he is ingenious; in style, transparent and lively. His most important work is the Histoire de l'Economie Politique en Europe (1838).—His brother, LOUIS AUGUSTE BLANQUI, was born at Nice in 1805, and made himself conspicuous chiefly by his passionate advocacy of the most extreme political opinions, for which he suffered with the pride of a martyr. He was one of the foremost fighters in all the French revolutions of this century. In 1830 he was decorated for his valour at the barricades. In 1848 he figured as the chief organiser of the popular movement under the Provisional Government. He took the lead also in the revolutionary attentat of the 15th May, the aim of which was to overthrow the Constituent Assembly. At the head of an excited mob, he demanded of the French representatives the resuscitation of the Polish nationality, while one of his friends pronounced the dissolution of the assembly. For his share in these disturbances he was rewarded with ten years' imprisonment in Belleisle. In 1861 Blanqui was sentenced to other four years' imprisonment. After the downfall of the second empire in 1870, Blanqui resumed his revolutionary activity, and in 1871 took a prominent part in forming the Commune. Being too unwell to endure transportation in New Caledonia, he was condemned to imprisonment for life, from which he was released in 1879. He died January 1, 1881, having spent nearly half his life in prison.