Biography of Michael Bakunin

Michael Bakunin was born on May 18, 1814 in the Russian province of Tvar. Bakunin attended primary and secondary education in Italy before attending artillery school in St. Petersburg at the age of fifteen. Just three year after, Bakunin earned a commission as a junior officer. However, just three years later, he left the military to seek a philosophical career in Moscow.

After traveling across Germany, Switzerland and France, Bakunin engaged in political discourse and agitation. In 1844, Bakunin was ordered to return back to Russia by the Russian government. December of the same year, Bakunin was sentenced in absentia to Siberia for hard labor for criticizing the Russian government and rebel rousing.

After giving an anti-Russian speech in November 1847, Bakunin was expelled from France. Around this time, Bakunin began correspondence with Proudhon and Karl Marx. After Marx denounced a friend of Bakunin's in March of 1848, Bakunin split ties with Marx.

In June of 1848, Bakunin attended a Slav Congress and joined the riots in Prague. Soon, he was expelled from Saxony and Prussia all together. He left to Anhalt, a principality. Soon after, Bakunin led a popular uprising and was hailed as a leader in Poland. By doing this, Bakunin was sentenced to death by the Russian czar.

After being captured, Bakunin was returned to Russia and made a confession in front of Czar Nicholas. Bakunin stated, "There was in my character a radical defect; Love for the fantastic, for out-of-the-way, unheard of adventure, for undertakings which open up an infinite horizon and whose end no man can foresee " Six years later, Bakunin was shown mercy and was exiled to Siberia for life.

While in Siberia, Bakunin married Antonia Kwiatkowski in October of 1858. Four years after his initial banishment, Bakunin planned and made a successful escape. After a long voyage, Bakunin landed in London on December 27.

In 1866, Bakunin found the International Brotherhood for revolutionary, socialists, and two years later, he founded the International Alliance for Social Democracy. After fleeing another arrest warrant in 1870. He left to Marseilles where he wrote one of his most noted works, God and the State. In 1873, at the age of fifty-nine, Bakunin retired from his revolutionary days. Just three years later, Michael Bakunin was laid to rest.

Also check out Michael Bakunin quotes