International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

Raised in the Bohemian town of Burowski and educated in Vienna, anarchist militant Hippolyte Havel was expelled from Austria-Hungary, Germany, and France in quick succession before departing for the United States in 1900. Settling in New York City, he wrote for Emma Goldman 's Mother Earth journal and edited three publications in quick succession: The Social War (1913), Revolutionary Almanac (1914), and Revolt (1916). Havel argued that the cultural avant-garde had an important role to play in the revolutionary struggle and his publications featured contributions from many artists ( Antliff 2001 : 95–104). Indeed, his ties to art were ubiquitous: he frequented Alfred Steiglitz's avant-garde 291 Gallery, played a role in the founding of the Provincetown Players, and occasionally lectured on modernism. Living by his wits as a cook and dishwasher, Havel was constantly destitute, but New York's cultural milieu sustained him for a time. This tenuous way of life came to an end after World War I, when poverty forced him to relocate to a rural anarchist colony in Stelton, New Jersey, where he lived off the charity of his friends. From Stelton, he edited American anarchism's sole English-language monthly, The Road to Freedom (1924–32), produced by the New York-based Road to Freedom Group. During the 1930s Havel fell into depression and chronic alcoholism. He died in a mental institution ... log in or subscribe to read full text