Simon Radowitzky (1891-1956) and Chief of Police Ramón Lorenzo Falcón, 14 November 1909

When the Ukrainian Simon Radowitzky emigrated to Argentina, he was only 17 years old. But he was already an anarchist, experienced in politics and repression by the state. In 1909, he participated in the Labor Day demonstration in Buenos Aires that was rudely suppressed by the police, with 8 dead and 40 wounded. Out of revenge, Radowitzky decided to throw a bomb at chief of police Falcón, just when he returned home from a funeral. Radowitzky was sentenced to death, but it was commuted to life imprisonment because he was barely 18. In 1930 he was released after a campaign in his favor. He took part in the Spanish Civil War and worked for the anarcho-syndicalist trade union federation CNT. He was interned in a French concentration camp after the war, but he managed to escape to Mexico. In bad health, he ended his days as a worker in a Mexican toy factory. He also gave lectures and published in anarchist periodicals, together with Augustin Souchy.

Periodicals

Anarchia. Buenos Aires, 1930 - IISH callno. Microfiche 363
Anarchija : ežemesjacnaja raboce-krest'janskaja gazeta. Buenos Aires 1930 - IISH callno. Microfilm 5110
La Antorcha : semanario anarquista de la mañana. Buenos Aires 1921-1932 - IISH callno. Microfilm 597
Buntar' : organ russkich anarchistov-kommunistov. Buenos Aires 1928 - IISH callno. ZDK 22427
El Libertario : decenario anarquista. Buenos Aires 1923-1932 - IISH callno. Microfilm 5133
El Perseguido : voz de los explodados. Periodico communista-anarchico. Buenos Aires 1890-1897 - IISH callno. Microfilm 498
La Protesta Humana. Buenos Aires 1897-1903 - IISH callno. Microfilm 1607

Archives

Ugo Fedeli inv.nr. 185: Letters from Radowitzky, 1932-1933
Luce Fabbri inv.nr. 21: Letters from Radowitzky, 1937-1940
Luigi Fabbri inv.nr. 140: letters from Radowitzky, 1934
Senya Fléchine inv.nr. 95-96: File relating to Simón Radowitzky, including identification papers and certificates of competence, drafts of articles, and press clippings on his death
Augustin Souchy

References

La voz de mi conciencia. Carta a la Federacion Obrera Regional Argentina Comunista / Simon Radowitzky - IISH callno. Bro 400/26
Sound document: Interview Esperanze Auzeac on Radowitzky: "A la ocasion de la foto que se encontraba en el archivo de Luce Fabbri y que muestra Radowitzky y una chica (Esperanza)" - IISH callno. BG GC5/958
IISH collection guide Spanish Civil War
Biography Simon Radowitzky, 1891-1956 atlibcom.org