Historical/Biographical Note

Max Heinrich Hermann Reinhardt Nettlau (1865-1944) was a German anarchist and historian born in Vienna, Austria. Moving to London he met anarchists such as Errico Malatesta and Peter Kropotkin, and also helped to found Freedom Press. Realising that a generation of socialist and anarchist militants from the mid-19th century was passing away and their archives of writings and correspondence being destroyed, he concentrated his efforts on acquiring and rescuing such collections from destruction. He also interviewed veteran militants for posterity. He wrote biographies of many famous anarchists, including Mikhail Bakunin, Élisée Reclus, and Errico Malatesta, as well as a seven volume history of anarchism. His extensive collection or archives was sold to the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam in 1935.