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The well dressed revolutionary: The Odyssey of Michel Pablo in the age of uprisings
Born in Alexandria in 1911, Michel Pablo became a leading figure in the Fourth International from its foundation in 1938. Throughout the 20th century, he was active in revolutions around the globe. His political work ranged from agitation among German troops in World War II, to supporting the Algerians in their fight for freedom, to gun-running for Che Guevara. He also drafted revolutionary legislation in Allende's Chile and Ben Bella's Algeria. Throughout his long and eventful life, Pablo fought for a society based on 'generalised self-management' or 'direct democracy', Athenian style. He never stopped believing this utopian dream was possible. The Well-Dressed Revolutionary is a meticulously researched biography of an exciting international figure (and his partner, Elly Diovouniotis) - and a cracking good read.
386 pages, Paperback
Published August 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 15, 2023
Fills an essential gap in the literature about Pablo, particularly in English. The author has made a heroic effort to tell this tale, and it shows in the breadth and depth of subject matter covered. While highly sympathetic to his subject, Greenland does make sure to note his faults, although there are arguably a few sins of omission in the text. That is more than made up for by its quality, smooth progression, and intellectual seriousness.
Hopefully a wave of Pablo texts, books and collections get translated, re-published, and in some cases published in English for the first time as a result of the interest generated by this book, which deserves a wide international readership.
Hopefully a wave of Pablo texts, books and collections get translated, re-published, and in some cases published in English for the first time as a result of the interest generated by this book, which deserves a wide international readership.
January 12, 2025
Sometimes a work challenges you to consider some fundamentals. What makes a good biography? In the summer of 2024, I read both this and The Man Who Hated Work And Loved Labor, a biography of labor leader Tony Mazzochi written by Les Leopold. The two books share genetic code, and any review of one is a review of the other.
To my knowledge, these books are the only known attempts at comprehensive biographies of their subjects. These books are valuable in that they provide a single cohesive narrative of their subjects. Michel Pablo and Tony Mazzochi are important, but understudied figures to anyone involved in left wing politics. Even a flaccid biography can provide a sturdy-enough framework for the reader to independently construct their own understanding.
But the relative obscurity of their subjects demands an academic and ideological rigor which was unfortunately out of the authors' grasps. The subject matter is most comparable to Bryan D Palmer's series on James P Cannon. Not all biographies must achieve the comprehensiveness of Palmer's work, but these two compare very unfavorably in their attitudes towards their subjects. Palmer himself wrote a critique of a biography of Ernest Mandel that is worth reading.
The titles of each book is a first warning. The title "The Well Dressed Revolutionary: The Odyssey of Michel Pablo..." indicates that the author is literally concerned with style over substance.
Both books are written by former collaborators of the subject. The authors write with the voice of a fan, not an independent, if sympathetic, analyst. Both authors lack a respect and understanding of the ideological terrain in which the subject operated. They are thus disinterested in the ideas of their own chosen subject. Both mock and dismiss competitors or critics of Pablo or Mazzochi. Pablo and Mazzochi are written as forces of personality, approaching hagiography.
Pablo in particular is a challenging subject, because of his total lack of aptitude for the role he took on in the Trotskyist movement. The author betrays a disdain for the international Trotskyist movement, and for ideological debates in general. He provides no insights into Pablo's most important and lasting historical impact: ideologically damaging and then splitting the movement at its most fragile moment. The author dismisses Pablo's critics as petty while also rejecting the Marxist ideas that supposedly formed the foundation for Pablo's ideas. The book quickly moves on to swashbuckling adventures in Algeria, told with little analysis, simply reverence for the hijinks of the protagonist. I write this as an "orthodox Trotskyist" partisan, though I do not demand that orthodoxy from all authors. A sympathetic biographer of Pablo could be very enlightening and challenge my many dogmas. But Greenland is lazy and disinterested.
Similarly, the Mazzochi biography is only equipped to provide a chronological account of events. Mazzochi's environmental work is dealt with too hagiographically. Mazzochi is written like a superhero, consistently outsmarting his opponents. There is no attempt to analyze the challenges of the labor movement, its bureaucracy, and his own role in it. The chapter on the Labor Party is particularly woeful. The radical left is portrayed purely as sectarian squabblers (whatever truth there may be, or lessons may be learned from this, it is buried in the smug disinterest of the author). The inability to build a Labor Party in the United States is among the most challenging and important questions in the history of all of industrial capitalism. The subject is simply not respected by the author.
The value of these books is real: the first chronological exposition of the events of the subjects' lives may inspire more study. It may be worth picking the books up if you have the right expectations.
To my knowledge, these books are the only known attempts at comprehensive biographies of their subjects. These books are valuable in that they provide a single cohesive narrative of their subjects. Michel Pablo and Tony Mazzochi are important, but understudied figures to anyone involved in left wing politics. Even a flaccid biography can provide a sturdy-enough framework for the reader to independently construct their own understanding.
But the relative obscurity of their subjects demands an academic and ideological rigor which was unfortunately out of the authors' grasps. The subject matter is most comparable to Bryan D Palmer's series on James P Cannon. Not all biographies must achieve the comprehensiveness of Palmer's work, but these two compare very unfavorably in their attitudes towards their subjects. Palmer himself wrote a critique of a biography of Ernest Mandel that is worth reading.
The titles of each book is a first warning. The title "The Well Dressed Revolutionary: The Odyssey of Michel Pablo..." indicates that the author is literally concerned with style over substance.
Both books are written by former collaborators of the subject. The authors write with the voice of a fan, not an independent, if sympathetic, analyst. Both authors lack a respect and understanding of the ideological terrain in which the subject operated. They are thus disinterested in the ideas of their own chosen subject. Both mock and dismiss competitors or critics of Pablo or Mazzochi. Pablo and Mazzochi are written as forces of personality, approaching hagiography.
Pablo in particular is a challenging subject, because of his total lack of aptitude for the role he took on in the Trotskyist movement. The author betrays a disdain for the international Trotskyist movement, and for ideological debates in general. He provides no insights into Pablo's most important and lasting historical impact: ideologically damaging and then splitting the movement at its most fragile moment. The author dismisses Pablo's critics as petty while also rejecting the Marxist ideas that supposedly formed the foundation for Pablo's ideas. The book quickly moves on to swashbuckling adventures in Algeria, told with little analysis, simply reverence for the hijinks of the protagonist. I write this as an "orthodox Trotskyist" partisan, though I do not demand that orthodoxy from all authors. A sympathetic biographer of Pablo could be very enlightening and challenge my many dogmas. But Greenland is lazy and disinterested.
Similarly, the Mazzochi biography is only equipped to provide a chronological account of events. Mazzochi's environmental work is dealt with too hagiographically. Mazzochi is written like a superhero, consistently outsmarting his opponents. There is no attempt to analyze the challenges of the labor movement, its bureaucracy, and his own role in it. The chapter on the Labor Party is particularly woeful. The radical left is portrayed purely as sectarian squabblers (whatever truth there may be, or lessons may be learned from this, it is buried in the smug disinterest of the author). The inability to build a Labor Party in the United States is among the most challenging and important questions in the history of all of industrial capitalism. The subject is simply not respected by the author.
The value of these books is real: the first chronological exposition of the events of the subjects' lives may inspire more study. It may be worth picking the books up if you have the right expectations.
December 27, 2024
Michel Raptis, a Greek revolutionary better known by his pseudonym Pablo, was the main leader of the Fourth International after the Second World War. Not just Trotsky, but dozens of revolutionary leaders had been massacred by fascism, Stalinism, and bourgeois democracy — this forced brilliant but untested young activists like Pablo (age 34 at the end of the war), Ernest Mandel (22), and Livio Maitan (22) to take over the leadership of the World Party of Socialist Revolution. In the challenging new situation after 1945, Pablo abandoned key tenets of Trotsky's program: instead of building independent revolutionary parties, his aim was to nudge Stalinist parties and anti-colonial movements to the left by advising their leaders. Even today, Pablo's name is still used as a synonym for opportunism and revisionism,
As this biography by the Australian former Pabloist Hall Greenland makes clear, Pablo was no outlier in the post-war Trotskyist movement. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the entire Fourth International collapsed into centrism, adapting to social democratic, Stalinist, and bourgeois nationalist movements. Pablo famously called for "deep entryism," i.e. for revolutionaries hiding out inside reformist parties, but on this question he was actually to the left of Mandel: Pablo called for Trotskyists to maintain independent publications parallel to their entryist projects, whereas Mandel wanted to keep the entire organization buried inside social democracy. Similarly, while Pablo deserves criticism for his uncritical support of the Algerian FLN, his "anti-Pabloist" opponents were cheerleaders of the Algerian MNA, which was even farther from socialist positions.
Despite his lifelong opportunism, Pablo dedicated his long life to the struggle against capitalism, joining revolutionary processes in multiple continents. This book offers mostly negative lessons for Trotskyists today, but nonetheless covers a wide range of revolutionary history from the 1930s to the 1990s.
As this biography by the Australian former Pabloist Hall Greenland makes clear, Pablo was no outlier in the post-war Trotskyist movement. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the entire Fourth International collapsed into centrism, adapting to social democratic, Stalinist, and bourgeois nationalist movements. Pablo famously called for "deep entryism," i.e. for revolutionaries hiding out inside reformist parties, but on this question he was actually to the left of Mandel: Pablo called for Trotskyists to maintain independent publications parallel to their entryist projects, whereas Mandel wanted to keep the entire organization buried inside social democracy. Similarly, while Pablo deserves criticism for his uncritical support of the Algerian FLN, his "anti-Pabloist" opponents were cheerleaders of the Algerian MNA, which was even farther from socialist positions.
Despite his lifelong opportunism, Pablo dedicated his long life to the struggle against capitalism, joining revolutionary processes in multiple continents. This book offers mostly negative lessons for Trotskyists today, but nonetheless covers a wide range of revolutionary history from the 1930s to the 1990s.
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