Anthropometric File of Anarchists

Anthropometric File of Anarchists
Anarchists in the Bertillon file (MET)
ArtistAlphonse Bertillon
Year1880s-1890
LocationNew York City / Paris

The Anthropometric File of Anarchists, or more precisely, the Anthropometric Photographs of Anarchists, is a collection of hundreds of police photographs of anarchists in France. These were taken by Alphonse Bertillon and his department between the late 1880s and the 1890s.

As of 2025, the photographs are divided between the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) and the Archives de la préfecture de police de Paris. The entire MET collection is accessible and in the public domain.

These documents are valuable for the history of anarchism, the history of the development of police practices, and are also considered works of art. They figure among the earliest police mugshots in history.

Anthropometric photographs of anarchists

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History

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In the closing decades of the 19th century, the French police underwent a series of transformations that led to the birth of a specific French forensic police.[1] A significant part of this evolution was the arrival of Alphonse Bertillon at the Paris Police Prefecture in 1879.[1] Bertillon gradually developed a filing system known as Bertillonage, also called judicial anthropometry. This innovative system was based on taking a specific number of measurements and photographs of individuals, which was intended to improve the identification of suspects or those on file.[1]

During this same period,[2][3] anarchists were developing the strategy of propaganda of the deed, with some engaging in terrorist actions targeting political or financial figures they deemed responsible for the significant repression they faced.[2][3]

The convergence of these two dynamics, among other factors—especially during the period the press dubbed the Ère des attentats (1892-1894)—gave Bertillon increasing authority and credibility to file anarchists using his new methods.[1][3] Between 1889 and 1894, hundreds of anarchists in France were documented upon arrest or during police raids, often being released shortly after in the latter case.[1] These images are among the earliest police mugshots in history.[1]

Current status

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As of 2025, the photographs are divided between the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) in New York City (417) and the Archives de la préfecture de police de Paris (462) in file Yb 28.[4] Since 2017, the MET authorizes the use and dissemination of its works that have fallen into the public domain, which concern the entirety of its anthropometric collection of anarchists.[5][6]

List

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Following is an alphabetical list of anarchists found in these collections who have a Wikipedia page – their photographs, the anarchist tendencies they can be associated with, and other relevant information about them.

The indication "Arch. pol." means that the photograph exists but is part of the Archives de la préfecture de police de Paris collections and requires express authorization for its publication.

Photograph Name and first name Gender Profession Notable elements Date Age
Adnet Clotilde F embroiderer 7 January 1894 19
Adnet Jeanne F seamstress
  • illegalist anarchist
8 January 1894 23
Beaulieu Henri M accountant 25 May 1894 23
Bertani Orsini M unemployed 18 March 1894 24
Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Brunet Georges M carpenter 4 February 1894 25
Arch. pol. Caserio Sante M baker 28 June 1894 21
Arch. pol. Same Same Same 30 June 1894
Cazal Antoinette F server
  • Member of Ortiz gang
  • Accused at the Trial of the Thirty
28 February 1894 31
Chiericotti Paolo M shoemaker
  • notable illegalist anarchist of Ortiz gang
  • eventually implicated in the Berthe bombing
  • Sentenced to 8 years in deportation to a penal colony at the Trial of the Thirty
25 March 1894 36
Same Same Same Same
Same Same Same Same
Cler Henri M cabinetmaker
  • syndicalist anarchist
  • Killed by the French police in 1910
14 March 1894 31
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Collot Eugénie F upholsterer
  • syndicalist and feminist anarchist
  • "significant" figure of the period
11 March 1894 36
Decker Joseph M tailor
  • syndicalist anarchist
  • Member of numerous groups
9 March 1894 46
Duprat Louis M tailor
  • syndicalist anarchist
  • His wine shop became a gathering place for anarchists in France
27 April 1894 37
Faure Sébastien M journalist 20 February 1894 36
Fénéon Félix M art critic
  • notable anarchist of that period
  • Accused at the Trial of the Thirty
May 1894 32
Arch. pol. François Jean-Pierre M carpenter
  • individualist and illegalist anarchist
  • implicated in the Véry bombing
1889 ? 33
Same Same Same 5 March 1894 38
Grave Jean M journalist 9 January 1894 38
Henry Émile M accountant
  • individualist anarchist responsible for several bombings
  • important figure of the history of terrorism
1890-1894 17-21
Arch. pol. Jas-Béala Joseph M mechanic 26 March 1892 27
Léger Charles M gardener
  • arrested in 1894 in possession of explosive materials
4 July 1894 16
Léveillé Louis M locksmith 7 July 1894 36
Luce Maximilien M painter 6 July 1894 36
Malatesta Errico M worker
  • major anarchist communist theorician and activist
  • expulsed from France in August-September 1892
1880s-1890s 26-40
Arch. pol. Malato Charles M journalist
  • notable French anarchist of the period
29 April 1890 32
Marie Constant M shoemaker
  • Communard, chansonnier and notable figure of anarchism in France
2 July 1894 53
Arch. pol. Meunier Théodule M cabinetmaker 1892 32
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same ?
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same ?
Ortiz Léon M accountant
  • illegalist anarchist member of the Ortiz gang
  • Sentenced to fifteen years of penal servitude at the Trial of the Thirty
  • Collaborated with French authorities
1894 25
Same Same Same 18 March 1894
Arch. pol. Pauwels Désiré M tanner 22 July 1891 ? 27
Arch. pol. Same Same Same 22 July 1891
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Pelgrom Élise F passementerie worker 22 February 1893 28
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol. Pini Vittorio M worker
  • Italian individualist anarchist
  • One of the founders of illegalism
20 June 1889 29
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same ?
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same ?
Pouget Émile M publicist 26 April 1894 31
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same
Ravachol François M dyer 27 April 1892 33
Reclus Paul M engineer 23 December 1893 35
Schouppe Placide M mechanic
  • nootable illegalist anarchist
  • escapes from the penal colony two times, including one with Vittorio Pini (1891)
1889 31
Arch. pol Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol Same Same Same Same
Arch. pol Same Same Same Same
Schrader Appoline F artist 24 March 1894 19
Arch. pol. Soubère Rosalie F Newspaper distributor 26 March 1892 24
Soubrier Annette F poultry seller
  • illegalist anarchist
  • member of the Ortiz gang
  • Accused at the Trial of the Thirty
25 March 1894 28
Trucano Victorina F hatmaker
  • illegalist anarchist
  • member of the Ortiz gang
  • Accused at the Trial of the Thirty
19 March 1894 54
Zanini Maria F seamstress
  • illegalist anarchist
  • member of the Ortiz gang
  • Accused at the Trial of the Thirty
18 March 1894 28
Zisly Henri M railway worker
  • individualist anarchist
  • Promoter of Naturian circles
26 February 1894 21
Arch. pol. Same Same Same Same

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Frappa 2023, p. III-IV.
  2. ^ a b Bouhey 2009, p. 219-220.
  3. ^ a b c Schwager 2009, p. 41-55.
  4. ^ "État des fonds" [State of the collections] (PDF). Archives de la préfecture de police de Paris. February 2025.
  5. ^ "6C50 - Fichier des anarchistes". www.eclatdebois.org. Archived from the original on 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
  6. ^ "Le Met de New York autorise l'utilisation de 375.000 images de ses oeuvres". Franceinfo (in French). 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2025-07-15.

Bibliography

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  • Bouhey, Vivien (2009), Les Anarchistes contre la République [The Anarchists against the Republic] (in French), Rennes: Presses universitaires de Rennes (PUR)
  • Frappa, Amos (2023), Par l'encre et le sang : Histoire de la police scientifique française [By Ink and Blood: A History of French Forensic Science], Paris: A.F.I.T.T
  • Schwager, Nicole (2009), "Polizeiliche Identifikationstechniken und Anarchismus in der Schweiz (1888-1904)", Traverse, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 41–55, doi:10.5167/uzh-27333