May Picqueray

Born

1898-07-08

Died

1983-11-03

Birthplace

Savenay, Loire-Atlantique, France

Biography

May Picqueray, whose real name is Marie-Jeanne Picqueray, is a French anarchist, anarcho-syndicalist, pacifist and antimilitarist activist of the 20th century. Born July 8, 1898 in Savenay, a singular figure in the libertarian movement, she lived through most of the major political and social struggles of her time. May Picqueray grew up in a modest environment, she spent her childhood between Châteaubriant and Saint-Nazaire, marked by a harsh education and a strong sensitivity to social injustice. At a very young age, she worked and emancipated herself, getting closer to the working and revolutionary circles who would forge her future commitment. Attracted by the social revolution, she campaigned in the 1920s within anarchist and trade unionist circles, particularly in the metals union. In 1922, she went to Moscow as a union delegate and openly denounced the privileges of the Bolshevik leaders in the face of the misery of the people, which confirmed her distrust of authoritarian communism. Deeply pacifist, she mobilized in defense of the anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, going so far as to send a parcel bomb to the United States embassy to force the press to talk about their cause, without causing any victims. Hostile to all dictatorships, she fought against fascism, Stalinism, the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War, participating in helping refugees, Spanish children and networks of false papers and escapes from French camps. A feminist before her time, May Picqueray claims an independent life, refusing traditional family models. She raises her three children alone, born to three different partners, while tirelessly pursuing her activist and professional activity. A press proofreader, she became a figure in the proofreaders' union and worked for several newspapers, including Le Canard Enchaîné, while remaining active in anti-militarist and anti-nuclear struggles and in support of conscientious objectors. From 1974 to her death, she ran the libertarian newspaper Le Réfractaire, organ of the Friends of Louis Lecoin, thus continuing the fight for peace and individual freedoms until her death in Paris on November 3, 1983.