Most Biographical Sketch

      Johann Most was born on February 5, 1846 in Augusburg, Germany. His childhood was very unpleasant. When Most was quite young his mother died, and he was sent to live with his father, and a stepmother who did not like him. Furthermore, he developed a disease during his childhood which greatly disfigured his face. This caused many of his childhood peers to ridicule his looks. Most has stated himself that his childhood was miserable. Clearly this misery lead to his fanatical actions as an anarchist.

      In 1868, Most became a very prominent socialist orator in Vienna. This earned him a seat in the German Parliament. However, after the government passed many anti-socialist laws, Most left the country. Immediately following this, Most became an anarchists with strong leanings towards communism. This led to him receiving 16 months in jail for writing an article asking that someone assassinate Tsar Alexander II. This was the first glimpses at what made Most so notorious. The anarchist defended the use of violence to achieve the necessary end.

      After being released from jail, Most came to the United States, beginning an invasion of anarcho-communism in the states. Most was a passionate anarchist, who believed that the state should be ruled by a collective group of all citizens, without any form of government. Due to the fact that he was a great orator and writer he was able to convince many people that using force was the only way to bring down the government in America as well as all over the world. However, after initial success, The Americans began to become skeptical of such use of force, damaging the power of Johann Most. On March 17, 1906 Most died in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Jacker, Corinne; The Black Flag of Anarchy: Antistatism in the United States; Charles Scribner's Sons; New York, New York; 1968

"Anarchists;" Johan Most; Freedom Press; London, England; 1996