Kropotkine savant [Vingt-cinq lettres inédites de Pierre Kropotkine à Marie Goldsmith, 27 juillet 1901-9 juillet 1915*

Abstract

M. Confino and D. Rubinstein, Kropotkin as scientist. Twenty-five unpublished letters front Peter Kropotkin to Marie Goldsmith, 27 July 1901-9 July 1915. Peter Kropotkin is remembered as the greatest anarchist theoretician of his generation, as a social thinker, and a prolific writer. But in addition to these achievements, he had also a deep interest in science (originating probably from the "scientist" ethos of the 1860's). The fields which attracted him most were, first geology, then biology and genetics. Using twenty-five unpublished letters of his to Marie Goldsmith, a fellow anarchist and a professional biologist at the Sorbonne, this study describes and analyses Kropotkin's scientific contribution, and his involvement in the great debates in the early twentieth century: nature versus nurture, inherited versus acquired characteristics, role of the environment, mutations, plasticity of animal behavior, mutual aid in and among the species, social Darwinism... A genuine polymath, Kropotkin wrote with skill and intuition on these fundamental issues, some of which are still on the agenda of contemporary science and of social theory.