Anthropometric File of Anarchists
Anthropometric File of Anarchists | |
---|---|
![]() Anarchists in the Bertillon file (MET) | |
Artist | Alphonse Bertillon |
Year | 1880s-1890 |
Location | New 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
[edit]History
[edit]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
[edit]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
[edit]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 |
| 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 |
| 28 February 1894 | 31 |
![]() | Chiericotti Paolo | M | shoemaker |
| 25 March 1894 | 36 |
![]() | Same | Same | Same | Same | ||
![]() | Same | Same | Same | Same | ||
![]() | Cler Henri | M | cabinetmaker |
| 14 March 1894 | 31 |
Arch. pol. | Same | Same | Same | Same | ||
![]() | Collot Eugénie | F | upholsterer |
| 11 March 1894 | 36 |
![]() | Decker Joseph | M | tailor |
| 9 March 1894 | 46 |
![]() | Duprat Louis | M | tailor |
| 27 April 1894 | 37 |
![]() | Faure Sébastien | M | journalist |
| 20 February 1894 | 36 |
![]() | Fénéon Félix | M | art critic |
| May 1894 | 32 |
Arch. pol. | François Jean-Pierre | M | carpenter |
| 1889 ? | 33 |
![]() | Same | Same | Same | 5 March 1894 | 38 | |
![]() | Grave Jean | M | journalist |
| 9 January 1894 | 38 |
![]() | Henry Émile | M | accountant |
| 1890-1894 | 17-21 |
Arch. pol. | Jas-Béala Joseph | M | mechanic |
| 26 March 1892 | 27 |
![]() | Léger Charles | M | gardener |
| 4 July 1894 | 16 |
![]() | Léveillé Louis | M | locksmith |
| 7 July 1894 | 36 |
![]() | Luce Maximilien | M | painter |
| 6 July 1894 | 36 |
![]() | Malatesta Errico | M | worker |
| 1880s-1890s | 26-40 |
Arch. pol. | Malato Charles | M | journalist |
| 29 April 1890 | 32 |
![]() | Marie Constant | M | shoemaker |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 25 March 1894 | 28 |
![]() | Trucano Victorina | F | hatmaker |
| 19 March 1894 | 54 |
![]() | Zanini Maria | F | seamstress |
| 18 March 1894 | 28 |
![]() | Zisly Henri | M | railway worker |
| 26 February 1894 | 21 |
Arch. pol. | Same | Same | Same | Same |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Frappa 2023, p. III-IV.
- ^ a b Bouhey 2009, p. 219-220.
- ^ a b c Schwager 2009, p. 41-55.
- ^ "État des fonds" [State of the collections] (PDF). Archives de la préfecture de police de Paris. February 2025.
- ^ "6C50 - Fichier des anarchistes". www.eclatdebois.org. Archived from the original on 2024-03-04. Retrieved 2025-07-15.
- ^ "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
[edit]- 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