Paul Mason on Louise Michel
Great Lives
BBC
4.2 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 3 September 2013
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
TV journalist and writer Paul Mason talks to Matthew Parris about the 19th Century French anarchist, Louise Michel, heroine of the Paris Commune. They're joined by historian Carolyn Eichner who says that Michel "expounded action and aggression with a theatrical, infectious elegance."
Known as 'the Red Virgin of Montmartre', Michel fought on the barricades in the short-lived revolution of 1871. Captured and tried by the French government, she told her accusers: "Since it seems that every heart that beats for freedom has no right to anything but a little lump of lead, I demand my share. If you let me live, I shall never cease to cry for vengeance and l shall avenge my brothers. If you are not cowards, kill me!"
She served seven years in a penal colony in the South Pacific and seven thousand Parisians turned out to welcome her home. She was a school teacher, writer, orator, anthropologist, feminist and cat-lover. She wrote some moving poems – and an opera about the destruction of the world. Producer: Peter Everett
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4in 2013.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Once you've wrapped up this podcast, how about trying a very British cult? |
| 0:06.0 | What happens if the person you trust with your future isn't what you think they are? |
| 0:10.0 | I did feel the whole time he was watching me Yeti. I saw a footprint and that really gave me gusmas. |
| 0:16.4 | Or people who knew me. Emme, I remember every secret, every lie. I'm the only one who knows the truth. |
| 0:23.0 | Discover more of our biggest podcast from 2003. |
| 0:27.0 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.0 | Great Lives is a download from Radio 4. |
| 0:32.0 | We hope you enjoy what you're about to hear. |
| 0:35.2 | Our Great Life this week was known as The Red Virgin of Montmartra, The Red She-Wulf and Bon Louise. She's also been called the Grand Dam of Anarchy and she used |
| 0:46.4 | the pseudonym Klamance. But she had a name. It was Louise Michel. She was a school teacher, writer, orator, anthropologist, anarchist and cat lover. |
| 0:58.0 | Born 1830 in Oatmaun, died in 1905 in Marseille. Here's one of her poems. |
| 1:04.8 | I have seen criminals and hoars and spoken with them. |
| 1:09.0 | Now I inquire, if you believe them made as now they are, to drag their rags in blood and mire, preordained |
| 1:17.9 | an evil race, you to whom all men are prey, have made them what they are today. |
| 1:25.0 | Louise Michel has been nominated by the television journalist and writer Paul Mason, |
| 1:30.0 | Newsnight's business and industry correspondent. |
| 1:33.0 | Paul was born in 1960 in Lee, near Wiggum, the son of a minor. |
| 1:37.0 | His books include live working or die fighting, |
| 1:40.0 | how the working class went global, |
| 1:42.0 | and more recently, why it's kicking off everywhere the new |
| 1:45.8 | global revolutions. Paul what's so great about Louise Michelle? |
| 1:50.3 | Well Matthew the Paris Commune of 1871 is probably the most crucial event in |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.