Anton Constandse
| Anton L. Constandse | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
September 13, 1899 Brouwershaven |
| Died | March 23, 1985 (aged 85) The Hague |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Other names | Dr. A. Elsée, G. Hamer, Pol de Beer, F.C.O., C.G.G., G.L. |
| Education | Ph.D. in Spanish literature (1951) |
| Alma mater | University of Amsterdam |
| Occupation | Journalist, author |
Anton Levien Constandse (September 13, 1899 – March 23, 1983) was a Dutch anarchist author and journalist.
The son of a baptist hotelier, Constandse completed the normal school between 1914 and 1918 and in this period came into contact with the teetotalers movement. In response to World War I, he developed anti-militarist ideas. He joined the Social-Anarchist Youth Organisation (Dutch Sociaal-Anarchistische Jeugd Organisatie, SAJO) in 1919. Within this organisation, he chose the side of the individualist faction within this organisation when factional struggles erupted, denouncing even trade organizations as counterrevolutionary. Instead of taking a job as a teacher, Constandse devoted himself to spreading anarchist ideas. He published two anarchist monthlies, Alarm (1922–1926) and Opstand ("Revolt", 1926–1928), which together with Herman Schuurman's De Moker and Arthur Lehning's Grondslagen renewed the theoretical basis of Dutch anarchism. Constandse's 1927 call for mutiny in De Vrije Socialist ("the free socialist"), following the sending of HNLMS Sumatra to Shanghai, led to a conviction for sedition and a prison sentence of two months.
During the 1930, Constandse focused on combating fascism. The rise of Adolf Hitler in Germany led Constandse to drop his antimilitarist ideas. He considered the Spanish Civil War a last chance for anarchist revolution, and abandoned revolutionary anarchism after the war had been lost by the Republican forces, instead laying down a Reichian theory of fascism's success as stemming from the proletariat's desire for a strict father figure. Having married, he also successfully studied for a position as a French teacher, but was barred from such a position by a 1933 law that prohibited schools from hiring members of leftist organisations.
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