Joseph Dejacque (b. December 1821, Paris - d. 1864, Paris). French anarcho-communist poet and writer.

Of unknown origins, Dejacque was first heard of when arrested as part of the revolutionary upheavals in France in 1848. Imprisoned for a time for socialist agitation he was released but rearrested in 1851 and sentenced for two years for his collection of poems "Les Lazereennes, Fables et Poesies Sociales".

He escaped around the time of the December 2 1821 coup d'etat to London. While in Jersey between 1852 - 1853 he published "La Question revolutionnaire", an exposition of anarchism. From there he passed on the USA where he spoke to workers associations in New York and was a signatory to the programme of the International Association there in 1855.

Whilst staying in New Orleans from 1856 - 1858 he wrote his famous anarchist utopia "L'Humanisphere, Utopie anarchique" but could not find a publisher. Returning to New York he was able to serialise his book in his periodical "Le Libertaire, Journal du Mouvement social".

Dejacque was the first to use the term Libertarian in print in 1857 in a letter criticising Pierre Joseph Proudhon for an attack on feminism and his support for individual ownership of produce and exchange. His stay in New York ended when his work prospects ran out due to the economic slump occassioned by the outbreak of the Civil War he returned to London and thus to Paris where he died a few years later of extreme poverty.

External Links

Complete works in French, includes 1857 letter to Proudhon