Ida Mett: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Belarusian-born anarchist and writer (1901–1973)}}

| caption = Ida Mett

| birth_place = [[Smarhonʹ|SmarhońSmarhon]], [[Grodno Governorate|Hrodna]], [[Russian  Empire]]

| death_place = [[Paris]], [[France]]

| nationality = [[HistoryByelorussian ofSoviet theSocialist Jews in BelarusRepublic|Belarusian Jew]]

| occupation = [[{{hlist|Physician]], [[|writer]]}}

| years_active = 1917-19681924–1968

| children = Marc Lazarévitch ({{born-in|1931}})1

'''Ida Mett''' (1901-19731901–1973) was a [[History of the Jews in Belarus|Belarusian Jewish]] [[anarcho-syndicalism|anarcho-syndicalist]], [[physician]] and [[writer]]. Following her experiences in the [[Russian Revolution]], she fled into exile in France, where she collaborated with other exiled revolutionary anarchists on the ''[[Delo Truda]]'' magazine and the constitution of [[platformism]]. She then went on to participate in the anarcho-syndicalist movements in Belgium, Spain and France, before repression by the fascist Vichy regime forced her to cease her activities. She spent the final decades of her life working as a nurse and publishing history books.

On {{OldStyleDate|20 July|1901|7 July}},{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2017|2p=1}} Ida Markovna Gilman was born into a family of cloth merchants,{{SfnmSfn|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pppp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006}} in the predominantly Jewish town of [[Smarhonʹ|SmarhońSmarhon]], where she was exposed to [[Classical radicalism|radical ideas]] from a young age.{{Sfn|Heath|2017|p=1}} In the wake of the [[Russian Revolution]], she moved to the Russian capital of [[Moscow]] to study medicine{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006|3a1=Heath|3y=2017|3p2p=1}} and became an active participant in the [[Anarchism in Russia|Russian anarchist movement]].{{Sfn|Heath|2017|p=1}} Before she was able to complete her studies, inIn 1924, she was arrested on charges of [[anti-Soviet agitation]] and deported from [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006|3a1=Heath|3y=2017|3p2p=1}}

She fled first to [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]] and then to [[Paris]],{{Sfn|Boulouque|2001|pp=126-127}} where she took the pen-name "Ida Mett" and co-edited the Russian anarchist magazine ''[[Delo Truda]]''.{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2017|2p=1|3a1=Skirda|3y=2002|3pp=121-122}} Through the magazine, she began to closely collaborate with the Ukrainian anarchists [[Peter Arshinov]] and [[Nestor Makhno]], with whom she penned the ''[[Platformism|TheOrganisational Platform]] of the General Union of Anarchists''.,{{Sfnm|1a1=Heath|1y=2017|1p=1|2a1=Skirda|2y=2002|2pp=121-122}} the founding document of the anarchist tendency known as [[platformism]].{{Sfn|Darch|2020|p=143}} Mett reported on the meetings in which ''The Platform'' was discussed, noting the objections of [[Anarchism in France|French]] and [[Anarchism in China|Chinese anarchists]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2002|p=124}} Mett herself defended the provisions in ''The Platform'' for the "ideological direction of the masses", arguing it to be necessary for anarchists to make their ideas predominate within the workers' movement and distinguishing the tactic from [[political party|party political]] aspirations to take [[State (polity)|state power]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2002|p=125}} She was quickly struck by Makhno's oratory talents at these meetings,{{Sfn|Shubin|2010|pp=189-190}} and for three years, she helped edit his memoirs,{{Sfnm|1a1=Peters|1y=1970|1p=92|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2p=280}} but would end up falling out with him over the process.{{Sfnm|1a1=HeathMalet|1y=2006|2a1=Malet|2y=1982|2p1p=190|3a12a1=Skirda|3y2y=2004|3p2p=280}} In 1928, she was expelled from ''Delo Truda'' for her [[Bereavement in Judaism|Jewish religious practices]], after she lit a [[yahrzeit candle]] for her recently-deceased father.{{SfnmSfn|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pppp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006}}

During this time, she had met the Belgian libertarian [[Nicolas Lazarévitch]], who became her husband.{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006|3a1=Heath|3y=2017|3p2p=1|4a13a1=Skirda|4y3y=2002|4p3p=287}} Together they co-edited the French anarcho-syndicalist newspaper ''La Liberation Syndicale''{{Sfn|Heath|2006}} and organised a series of anti-Bolshevik campaigns.,{{SfnmSfn|1a1=Heath|1y=2006|2a1=Skirda|2y=2002|2pp=287}} Forfor thiswhich they were eventually expelled from [[French Third Republic|France]] and moved to [[Belgium]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=HeathSkirda|2y=2006|3a1=Skirda|3y=2002|3p2p=287}} ThereIt shewas resumedat herthis studiestime inthat medicineshe andmet finally[[Buenaventura graduatedDurruti]] withand a[[Francisco diplomaAscaso]],{{Sfn|Heath|2017|p=1}} althoughwho sheinvited wouldher beto banned[[Catalonia]] fromfollowing practisingthe medicine[[1931 inSpanish bothlocal Belgiumelections|proclamation]] andof France,the due[[Second toSpanish herRepublic|Spanish Republic]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Skirda|2y=2002|2p=287}} Her son Marc was born that anarchistsame activitiesyear.{{Sfn|HeathBoulouque|20062001|pp=126-127}}

As the [[Cold War]] began, Mett published a series of historical works about the [[Soviet Union]], including:{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006}} a book on the history of the [[Kronstadt rebellion]]; a study of the Russian [[peasant]]ry before and after the revolution; a look at the developments of [[communism]] following the [[Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin|death of Stalin]]; and a history of the [[Education in the Soviet Union|Soviet education system]].{{Sfn|Heath|2006}} She also wrote a book on the [[Healthcare in Russia#Semashko system|Soviet healthcare system]],{{Sfnm|1a1=Boulouque|1y=2001|1pp=126-127|2a1=Heath|2y=2006}} in which she outlined the rise of [[antisemitism in the Soviet Union]].{{Sfn|Boulouque|2001|pp=126-127}}

Mett also served as a key primary source for biographies on Nestor Makhno by Michael Malet,{{Sfn|Malet|1982|p=198}} Victor Peters,{{Sfn|Peters|1970|p=11}} and [[Alexandre Skirda]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=5}} In her own memoirs about Nestor Makhno, Mett described the exiled Ukrainian anarchist as incredulous and diffident towards many of his own friends, depicting within him an [[anti-intellectualism|anti-intellectual]] streak and [[Jealousy|jealous]] temperament.{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|pp=306-307}} While she was sceptical of Makhno's [[agrarianism|agrarian]] calls for "land and freedom", she declared "his social goodwill was sincere and above question", praising the political and strategic mind of who she called a "popular avenger".{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|p=307}}

Meanwhile, Mett depicted Makhno's widow [[Halyna Kuzmenko]] in a very negative light.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=145|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2pp=303-304}} She alleged that Kuzmenko had attempted to kill her late husband, had an affair with Volin and that they together stole Makhno's diary while he was dying.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1pp=145-146|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2pp=303-304}} Mett also fabricated a story about Kuzmenko marrying a Nazi officer{{Sfn|Darch|2020|p=146}} and getting killed in an allied air raid on Berlin.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darch|1y=2020|1p=146|2a1=Skirda|2y=2004|2p=304}} When pressed on these allegations by Makhno's biographer [[Alexandre Skirda]], Mett failed to provide further details, leading him to dismiss them as [[hearsay]].{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|pp=303-304}} Skirda was fiercely critical of Mett's memoirs on Makhno, which he described as amounting to [[slander]], concluding that she "deserves to be assessed on other, more pertinent of her writings."{{Sfn|Skirda|2004|pp=394-395}} Despite her accusations, Mett would later uphold Kuzmenko as a "defender of women", due to her executions of rapists during the [[UkrainianRussian Civil War of Independence]].{{Sfn|Patterson|2020|p=70}}

Mett and her husband later participated in the events of [[May 68]], passing down the stories of their experiences to the next generation.{{Sfn|Heath|2017|p=1}} Ida Mett died in Paris on 27 June 1973, at the age of 71.{{SfnmSfn|1a1=Heath|1y=2006|2a1=Heath|2y=2017|2pp=1}}

* ''[https://www.worldcat.org/title/14672103 Medicine in the USSR]'' (1953)

* ''[https://www.worldcat.org/title/11126868 The Soviet School]'' (1954)

* ''[https://www.worldcat.org/title/806477196 The Russian Peasant in the Revolution and Post-Revolution]'' (1968)

*{{cite journal|url=https://www.cairn.info/article.php?ID_ARTICLE=AJ_342_0126 |first=Sylvain |last=Boulouque |year=2001 |title=Ida Gilman, dite Mett, médecin et anarchiste (Smorgone, Russie, 20 juillet 1901 – Paris, 27 juin 1973) |trans-title=Ida Gilman, known as Mett, doctor and anarchist (Smorgon, Russia, 20 July 1901 - Paris, 27 June 1973) |journal=Archives Juives |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=126–127 |language=fr |doi=10.3917/aj.342.0126 |issn=0003-9837 |oclc=710968410}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Patterson |first1=Sean |title=[[Makhno and Memory: Anarchist and Mennonite Narratives of Ukraine's Civil War, 1917–1921]] |year=2020 |language=en |isbn=978-0-88755-578-7 |oclc=1134608930 |location=[[Manitoba]] |publisher=[[University of Manitoba Press]] }}

[[Category:20th-century womenBelarusian writerspoliticians]]

[[Category:People from Smarhon’Smarhon]]