Louis Blanc published in 1839 The Organisation of Labour, in which he saw competition as the very source of working-class misery, and called for workshops that the State would fund. The phrase “the right to work” comes from that book. Having entered the provisional government in 1848, he wrested from it the National Workshops, a truncated and then distorted version of his idea. After the June Days, he left for twenty-two years in England.
The story
Louis Blanc was born in Madrid in 1811, son of an inspector general of finances to Joseph Bonaparte. A journalist, he founded the Revue du progrès in Paris in 1839 and published “The Organisation of Labour” the same year.
The book is a founding text: in it he names competition as the cause of working-class misery and proposes social workshops funded by the state. The phrase the right to work comes from there.
A member of the provisional government in 1848, he obtained the creation of the National Workshops — a partial and quickly perverted version of his scheme. The June days finished him: accused, he went into exile in England for twenty-two years.
He came back only when the Second Empire fell, was elected to the Assembly and sat on the far left until his death. A Paris metro station carries his name.
He died in 1882, the same year as his brother Charles Blanc, art critic, member of the Académie française and of the Academy of Fine Arts, professor of aesthetics at the Collège de France. The two lie together in Division 67.
The grave
A grave with two voices, where the brothers occupy opposite registers. That of Charles Blanc lists the titles — “member of the Académie des beaux-arts and of the Académie française, professor of aesthetics and art history at the Collège de France, 1813-1882” — and carries on with a quotation from his “Grammaire des arts du dessin”. That of Louis Blanc comes down to two mandates: “member of the provisional government 1848, deputy for Paris 1871, 1811-1882”. Neither “The Organisation of Labour”, nor the National Workshops, nor the twenty-two years of exile. The two brothers died the same year.
On site, do not miss
The two inscriptions side by side — the socialist and the art critic — and the engraved passage from the “Grammaire des arts du dessin”.
Visitors' questions
Where is Louis Blanc's grave?
In Division 67, chemin Hautoy, first row, in the upper, eastern part of the cemetery. He shares the grave with his brother Charles Blanc, art critic and Academician, who died in the same year as he did.
Auguste BlanquiWhat is “L'Organisation du travail”?
The book he published in 1839 — “The Organisation of Labour”: in it he denounced competition as the cause of working-class poverty and proposed social workshops funded by the State. The phrase “the right to work” comes straight from it.
Jean-Baptiste SayWhy did he go into exile?
After the June Days of 1848: a member of the provisional government, he was accused of having encouraged the uprising and fled to England. He stayed there twenty-two years, until the fall of the Second Empire.
Alexandre Ledru-RollinWho was Charles Blanc?
His brother, an art critic, member of the Académie française and of the Academy of Fine Arts, professor of aesthetics and art history at the Collège de France. A passage from his “Grammaire des arts du dessin” is carved on the grave.
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