Karl Marx credited Louis-Auguste Blanqui as “the brains and inspiration of the proletarian party in France.” Though largely forgotten today, revolutionaries across the globe once viewed this nineteenth-century French political prisoner as a hero of revolutionary socialism. In this time of so much political backsliding and compromise, it is worth looking at the life of Blanqui.

Over fifty years, Blanqui inspired French radicals with his speeches and writing. When not in prison, he launched a half-dozen insurrections and stood on the front lines of pitched battles between the state and the revolutionaries. He devoted his life to toppling capitalism and inaugurating a socialist republic. Today, as we face an increasingly brutal neoliberal regime, the Left should take inspiration from Blanqui’s unwavering commitment to social transformation.