Lissagaray

Who was Lissagaray?

Hippolyte-Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray was a literary animator and speaker, a Republican journalist and a French revolutionary socialist.

He is known for his investigation of History of the Paris Commune of 1871, an event in which he participated. He collected testimonies from the survivors in exile in London, Switzerland and consulted all documents available at the time to ensure accuracy. He was assisted by Karl Marx in the writing of History of the Paris Commune of 1871, which was translated to English by Eleanor Marx. The current English translation is from the first edition dating in 1876. The French edition is based on the 1896 version.

Exiled in London from 1871 to 1880, he gathered in the house of the Marx family, although he was not personally liked by Mrs Marx, her daughter Laura or her husband Paul Lafargue. Eleanor "Tussy" Marx, the youngest daughter of Karl Marx, fell in love with "Lissa", 17 years older. Because of his young Tussy's depression, her father accepted the engagement between Tussy and Lissa. But at age 25, shortly after the death of his mother, Eleanor decided to break up with Lissa. She held a strong resentment against Paul and Laura Lafargue. He had a relationship with a marquis in the 1890s, but Lissagaray remained single.