Louis Bouët
| Louis Bouët | |
|---|---|
| Born |
6 April 1880 Montfaucon-sur-Moine, Maine-et-Loire, France |
| Died | 9 July 1969 (aged 89) Saumur, Maine-et-Loire, France |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Known for | Militant syndicalism |
Louis Bouët (6 April 1880 - 9 July 1969) was a French teacher and anarcho-syndicalist. He played a leading role in the National Federation of Teachers' Unions and in the socialist party. He was briefly a member of the steering committee of the French Communist Party. For many years he edited the pedagogical review L'Ecole Emancipée (The Emancipated School), which he had founded.
Louis Bouët was born on 6 April 1880 in Montfaucon-sur-Moine, Maine-et-Loire, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Cholet. His father was a shoemaker and café operator, with little money and less faith. A great uncle in the church offered to pay his fees if he entered the minor seminary to become a priest, but Bouët was not a believer and wanted to become a teacher. He managed to gain admission in 1897 to the École normale in Angers. He was influenced by the headmaster who was a socialist and supporter of Dreyfus.
After leaving school Bouët was assigned to Trélazé and then Saumur, where he stayed for two years before being called up for military service. While at Saumur he spent time with Émile Masson who told him about libertarian doctrines. He met Gabrielle Dechezelles, an accountant in a wholesale grocery, and helped her prepare for her Brevet élémentaire examination. With a small inheritance he was able to return to college and earn his Brevet supérieur. He married Gabrielle and they were to have three children.
In 1905 the Louis Bouët signed the manifesto of the teacher's union. Bouët joined the socialist party, the Section Française de l'Internationale Ouvrière (SFIO) in 1906. His revolutionary syndicalist views did not prevent Bouet from joining the socialist party, where he often defended "Hervéiste" concepts. In 1908 the Maine-et-Loire teacher's syndicate, led by Louis Bouët, advocated the organization of joint conferences of civil servants and workers. This had been explicitly forbidden, and charges were laid against the leaders. Bouët revived the revolutionary spirit of the Federation of Teacher's Unions when he launched the pedagogical review L'Ecole Emancipée (The Emancipated School) in 1910.
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