Clément Duval (; 1850–1935) was a French anarchist. He is best known as a proponent of propaganda of the deed and the principal founder of illegalism, an anarchist tendency that he extensively inspired, practiced, and theorized.
Born into a modest socialist family, he fought in the Franco-Prussian War and was severely wounded; after years of bedridden suffering, he was left impoverished and unfit for work. He began stealing to support his family. Duval was arrested and imprisoned for a year, during which time he became an anarchist and was politicized. Upon his release, he became actively involved in anarchist militancy and was imprisoned again, this time for a few weeks. After his release, the anarchist joined The Panther of Batignolles and began a series of arson attacks targeting the properties of business owners. He also prepared explosives to launch a series of bombings in the capital but was arrested after burglarizing and setting fire to the home of Madeleine Lemaire.
During his trial, which influenced many contemporary or later anarchists such as Louise Michel, Vittorio Pini or the Bonnot Gang, Duval notably theorized the idea of individual reclamation—stealing from bourgeois targets to redistribute wealth. His positions and defenses have led many to consider him the father of illegalism, a particularly significant tendency of anarchism in Western Europe.
Sentenced to death, his punishment was commuted to life at hard labor, and he was deported to the penal colony of the Salvation Islands, where he remained for 13 years until he managed to escape—on his eighteenth attempt. Duval then fled to the United States, where he died in 1935. His life and legend inspired cultural works, such as Papillon by Henri Charrière, a depoliticized version of his life in the penal colony.
Biography
Youth and war injuries
Clément Louis Duval was born on 11 March 1850 in Cérans-Foulletourte.. According to his birth certificate, he was the son of Clément Duval Senior, a café owner, and Madeleine Douaire, who was unemployed. His father was a staunch Blanquist and a fervent republican during the Second Empire. He provided his son with a socialist education, having him read texts by Blanqui, for example.
During his late adolescence, he fell in love with a comrade from a Bonapartist family and started a household with her. However, the Franco-Prussian War broke out, and he was conscripted. Influenced by his socialist upbringing and antimilitarism, he was reluctant to fight and considered deserting. His father and his partner had to convince him, with difficulty, to report to Rennes to join the 5th battalion of chasseurs on foot (bataillon de chasseurs à pied).
After joining the battalion, he contracted smallpox during the epidemic that ravaged the French troops and was sent to the hospital to recover. Once he had recovered, he was transferred to the 11th of chasseurs on foot and joined the front lines.
He fought bravely during the skirmishes around Villorceau in early December 1870. On 11 December 1870, he was struck by a bullet, and later the same day, an exploding shell severely wounded him. Duval was evacuated by an ambulance and sent to Nantes. He managed to survive and heal from his injuries, but from that war onward, he suffered from severe rheumatism and arthritis.
Reintegrated, he was stationed with his regiment in Sathonay-Camp until 1873. When he returned to Paris, after the siege of the city and the Paris Commune, his father had died, and his former partner, whom he still loved, was in a relationship with someone else, with whom she had a child—who was stillborn. Duval understood her decision, especially since she had to survive the siege and the Commune without him, and he did not blame her; however, he felt ashamed of his own situation and refused to speak to her. Fourteen months later, he finally decided to see her again, and the two reconciled.
Clément and his partner were then in love and enjoyed happier days following their reunion. In 1876, however, a severe episode of rheumatism struck the young man, requiring six months of hospital treatment and another month bedridden at home. This prolonged unemployment weighed heavily on the family's already meager finances, especially as he returned to the hospital for arthritis treatment and she had to be hospitalized during a difficult pregnancy.
After recovering from his convalescence, he was dismissed from his job as a metalworker and had to look for new work.
First thefts and imprisonment At the end of September 1878, while searching for a job, he went to the metalworking workshops of Maison Fleury, but was turned away. He then decided to take the train to Rue de Vaugirard and visit Maison Moisant, as he had been told they were hiring. Duval needed to be in Vaugirard before 1 P.M., but when he entered the station at 11. A.M., the train he needed had already left. He decided to take the next train anyway, just in case. As he approached the ticket counter to purchase a new ticket, he noticed the counter was unattended, and the day's earnings were left out in plain view. After hesitating, Duval grabbed the money he saw in two bowls and stuffed it into his pockets before returning home. He stole a total of 82 francs. Upon returning to his family, he claimed that an old friend, moved by their dire situation, had given them the money.
He continued searching for work, taking odd jobs here and there, but was rarely hired due to his weakened physical state—his work certificates held little sway with employers. Some time later, Duval decided to repeat the same theft, but in a more organized manner; he brought a bag to carry off as much money as possible and returned at a time when the ticket counter was unattended. He took all the money he could find and fled. A man saw him, raised the alarm, and began chasing him—soon, a crowd of around fifty people joined the pursuit as Duval ran across the tracks. He climbed over a wall, but on the other side, he was immediately apprehended by the gendarmes.
Before the court, he claimed that he had only wanted to feed his family. He was sentenced to one year in prison and incarcerated in Mazas. Since he was unmarried, his partner could not visit him, and instead, he received visits from his mother, who scolded him for ending up in prison and had never really shown him much affection. Duval sought early release for good behavior and eagerly awaited his release date, as his mother had promised a family gathering to celebrate his freedom. Released on 29 July 1879, Duval rushed home, expecting to be 'surprised' by the celebration—only to find the place empty.
His partner had left with their child four days earlier, as he learned from the concierge—she had resolved to leave him out of shame for his criminal record and had returned to her family. Duval returned to his bed and reportedly broke down in tears.
Political awakening and anarchism
In parallel, Clément Duval read extensively from Enlightenment philosophers during his incarceration, spending a significant portion of his prison time studying these texts and educating himself. Upon his release, he began associating with workers’ groups, then reading anarchist newspapers. Eventually, he decided to attend meetings of anarchist groups in the capital, where he never spoke and only observed the debates.
Duval was struck by the contrast between the words of the anarchists he listened to—who often echoed Proudhon's phrase 'Property is theft!'—and their actions. None of these meetings seemed to challenge the bourgeois order; they were merely empty words for him. One day, Duval intervened during a meeting and delivered his first speech, in which he declared, among other things:
His speech was met with general indifference. Afterward, Duval refrained from speaking out, not wanting to be seen as a police informant by appearing too extreme, and to avoid facing such a cold reception again—he was deeply disappointed by what he saw among his anarchists companions. He never spoke of his conviction at the time, fearing exclusion from the groups he associated with.
1880–1883 Clément Duval managed to find work again as a metalworker, this time at the Tchouberski workshops, where he manufactured stoves. He became friends with several colleagues and often visited the family of his forge companion, Boucart. At Boucart's home, he delivered passionate speeches and was well-regarded by his friends. Despite having promised himself never to engage with a woman again, he entered a new relationship in 1880 with a partner ten years his junior. The couple attended anarchist meetings together, lived in a free union, and were both active in the movement.
In September 1881, however, she returned to her family as she did every summer to help with the grape harvest. Meanwhile, Duval fell seriously ill once more. He went to Beaujon Hospital but was only kept for a day without receiving treatment. He then tried Lariboisière Hospital, where he was redirected to Hôtel-Dieu, and once again sent back to Beaujon. There, a compassionate on-call doctor arranged a bed for him in a hallway.
The next day, the attending physician was displeased that a patient had been admitted without his approval and scolded Duval. He remained bedridden for two months and needed crutches afterward, but he continued spreading anarchist newspapers within the hospital, thanks to his partner who managed to pass them to him through the night nurse. As soon as he was able to leave, he made clear his disdain for such hospitals and departed.
After speaking at a meeting to support a fellow companion calling for action, Duval was suspected of being a police informant. However, a few companions approached him at the end of the meeting and suggested he join the 'Panther of Batignolles', a more radical group inclined toward direct action.
Clément Duval and his new partner were married in a civil ceremony, but their relationship grew increasingly strained. As he became more deeply involved in anarchist activism, she urged him to be careful and focus instead on providing for the family. When Louise Michel and Émile Pouget organized a popular uprising in Paris, advocating for 'expropriation' from Parisian bakers in protest of bread prices, Duval received an urgent telegram from his brother-in-law, summoning him immediately. When he arrived, he realized it was a ruse. Returning to Paris, he arrived too late to participate in the events. During this period, Duval and his wife argued fiercely, and he even went so far as to beat her on multiple occasions.
'Property arsons' The anarchist clandestinely printed posters and pasted them on the walls of Parisian industries. The posters were highly radical, with messages such as:
Duval then embarked on an extensive arson campaign, targeting any factory or industry whose owner he deemed deserving of ruin. A few days later, he set fire to a piano company. He continued relentlessly, next targeting the depots of the Bastille-Saint-Ouen Omnibus Company, where firefighters struggled for twelve hours before extinguishing the blaze. He then set fire to a carpentry workshop owned by the Rothschild family—flames spread so rapidly that the premises of an adjacent carpet business were also destroyed. Though he had previously spared the forage stores of the Omnibus Company, he returned one night and burned down all the warehouses.
A few days later, Duval set fire to the Tchouberski factory, then the Belvallette Frères carriage factory in Passy—two businesses where he had worked. In the latter case, he intended to kill the owner and foremen, who lived on-site, but was prevented from accessing the varnish storage area where he had planned to start the blaze. Forced to ignite the fire elsewhere, the targets managed to escape the burning building and survive.