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  • Source: Martial Bourdin

    • Martial Bourdin (1868 – 15 February 1894) was a French anarchist, who died on 15 February 1894 when chemical explosives that he was carrying prematurely detonated outside the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park, London.


    Biography


    Bourdin was a member of the anarchist tailors' group L’Aiguille, along with his brother Henri. He emigrated from France, working as a women's tailor in Detroit and later London. In London, he and his brother were members of Club Autonomie, a popular club for foreign anarchists.
    He died on 15 February 1894 when chemical explosives that he was carrying prematurely detonated outside the Royal Observatory in Greenwich Park. The explosion completely destroyed his left hand and wrist, and blew a small hole through his abdomen. Although Bourdin had sustained massive injuries, he remained alive and able to speak. He did not, however, reveal his name, specific target, or motives. He was carried to the Seamen's Hospital nearby, where he died 30 minutes later. Bourdin was buried in the Finchley Road cemetery on 23 February. Louise Michel gave a speech at the funeral.
    Later, police investigators discovered that Bourdin had left his room on Fitzroy Street in London and travelled by tram from Westminster to Greenwich Park. The police concluded that "some mischance or miscalculation or some clumsy bungling" had caused the bomb to explode in Bourdin's hand. Because he was found with a large sum of money, the police speculated that he had planned to leave for France immediately.


    Legacy


    Bourdin's gruesome death and the mystery surrounding his attempted act inspired Joseph Conrad's 1907 novel, The Secret Agent. Some scholars believe T. S. Eliot references Bourdin in his Ariel poem "Animula" when he writes "Pray...// For Boudin, blown to pieces," although Eliot uses the spelling "Boudin" and may not have had the anarchist in mind.


    Further reading


    Burgoyne, Mary (2007). "Conrad among the Anarchists: Documents on Martial Bourdin and the Greenwich Bombing". The Conradian. 32 (1): 147–ii. ISSN 0951-2314.


    Notes




    References


    Cronin, Isaac. Confronting Fear: A History of Terrorism (New York: Thunder's Mouth, 2002)

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