In front of 46 Rue des Cinq Diamants, opposite the premises of the Association of Friends of the Paris Commune of 1871.

Association of Friends of the Paris Commune of 1871

Founded in 1881 by Communards returning from exile and deportation, the Association of Friends of the Paris Commune aims to raise awareness of the history of the Commune and to keep its memory alive. Its motto is “The body lies on the ground, but the idea still stands”.

It is the oldest organisation of the French labour movement still in existence. Its name changed several times: Solidarity of the Militants of 1871, then Fraternal Society of Veterans of the Commune in 1889. Every year, a banquet brings its members together.

On 21 May 1908, a plaque was affixed to the Wall of the Federates at Père-Lachaise Cemetery. On 22 May 1910, a war memorial to the fallen of the Commune was erected at Montparnasse Cemetery thanks to a public fundraising campaign.

Following the death in Russia in 1942 of the last Commune veteran, Adrien Lejeune, the association took the name ‘Association des Amis de la Commune’. In 2013, to pay tribute to the women of the Commune, the association changed its name to include the feminine form and has since been known as: “Association des Amies et Amis de la Commune de Paris 1871”.

The permanent premises include a bookshop and house a substantial archive. Numerous leaflets and a newsletter are published, the tradition of annual banquets is upheld, and an event is organised in Paris each year to celebrate the first day of the Commune, 18 March.

Among other activities, the association also commemorates the last day of the Commune with a march to the Wall of the Federates, bringing together some forty associations, trade unions and political parties. Today, the association upholds the ideals of the Commune and promotes its prescient legacy:

Secularism,

Labour rights,

Social protection,

Women’s emancipation,

The beginnings of self-management.

It also helps to raise awareness of this fascinating experiment in democracy, to shed light on the actions of the Communards, and to better understand this important moment in our history, which has always been obscured, distorted and denigrated because it frightened the privileged and the wealthy.

The association passes on this legacy through lectures, exhibitions, Commune-themed tours, as well as its publications and, more recently, its play.