Adrien Lejeune

Adrien Lejeune
Born	(1847-06-03)3 June 1847 Bagnolet, Kingdom of France
Died	9 January 1942(1942-01-09) (aged 94) Novosibirsk, USSR
Buried	Père Lachaise Cemetery
Known for	Paris Commune

Adrien Lejeune (French pronunciation: [adʁijɛ̃ ləʒœn]; 3 June 1847 – 9 January 1942) was a French revolutionary who is recognized as the last surviving communard from the 1871 Paris Commune.

Life

Adrien Félix Lejeune was born on 3 June 1847 in Bagnolet. As a member of the National Guard, he participated in the 1870 Paris uprising against Napoleon III. Although initially discharged for health reasons, Lejeune reenlisted to fight against the Prussians during the Siege of Paris as part of the 2nd Company of the 28th Battalion. On 18 March 1871 he participated in the defense of the cannons of Montmartre against the French government at the onset of the Paris Commune. Over the next two months under the Paris Commune, Lejeune participated in skirmishes in Bagnolet and the XXe arrondissement, culminating with action during the Bloody Week in May 1871. On 28 May, the final day of the Paris Commune, Lejeune was arrested in Belleville. On 12 February 1872 he was sentenced to five years in prison, eventually reduced to four years.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Paris Commune was idolized by the Soviet government and Lejeune was later invited to settle in the Soviet Union where he moved in 1928. By the time of his death in Novosibirsk in 1942, Lejeune was recognized as the last surviving communard at 94 years' old. Originally buried in the Soviet Union, his ashes were repatriated on the initiative of the French Communist Party and buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, on 23 May 1971, as part of the centenary celebrations of the Paris Commune.

Further reading

• Bowd, Gavin (2016). The Last Communard: Adrian Lejeune, the Unexpected Life of a Revolutionary. Verso Books.