Trotsky's friend: Alfred Rosmer (1877-1964)

LAST week on Wednesday, May B, Alfred Rosmer, a French and international working class movement, a French Communist Party and an early follower of Trotsky, hospital. He was 87.

Rosmer began his political life on the left of French politics as a revolutionary syndicalist. He was one of a whole generation of militants of the French labour movement who had turned away in revulsion from the opportunism and corruption that permeated both the social-democratic and the syndicalist wings of the movement.

Rosmer, Monatte and others were opposed to the collaboration of the French labour movement with the ruling class during the First World War. His group published illegal literature calling on the metal workers to oppose the war.

They were savagely persecuted by the French bourgeoisie for the stand they took.

It was during this period that he came into contact with Trotsky, who did much to influence the policies and the course of the Rosmer group, persuading them to attend the Zimmerwald and Kienthal antiwar conferences.

From 1915 to 1919 Rosmer was called up into the army.

After the Russian revolution in 1917 the Rosmer tendency, which was grouped around the paper, 'La Vie Ouvriere', broke with French syndicalism.

Praesidium member The group was represented by Rosmer at the second congress of the Third International in Spring 1920, where he was elected onto its executive. He also became a member of its praesidium and a signatory of its Manifesto.

He was a founder of the International of Red Trade Unions and a member of its council.

Amongst other services rendered to the Communist International, Rosmer was a representative at the Congress of Oppressed Nationalities of the East, he was commissioned to investigate the assassination of the eight members of the Finnish Communist Party and was present at Kropotkin's funeral in 1921.

On his return to France he was made a member of the Central Committee of the French CP as a represențative of the Left (one of the many constituent groups of the Party at the time)

and was placed on the edițorial board of its journal, L'Humanite.

This Left tendency fought for the line of the Communist International in the Party.

In 1924 Rosmer, who was one of Trotsky's earliest supporters, left the French CP.

Later when Pyatakov was in Paris trying to coalesce the opposition elements of the French Party, Rosmer disassociated himself from these efforts to bring the pro-Zinoviev section into the opposition.

Trotsky's emissary

By 1929 the French opposition had taken the form of a number of disparate groups. But through Trotsky's intervention they were brought together in common activity.

During this period Rosner was Trotsky's emissary in Belgium and •Germany and he was in contact with sympathisers in Italy, Holland and the United States.

But soon the joint organisation of the groups broke up. The rift between the RosmerNaville group and the Molinier section was repaired in 1930 at Prinkipo. But relations were ruptured again and Rosmer resigned his membership.

When Trotsky moved to France, Rosmer did not make contact with him. But this did not prevent Trotsky from saying of him: 'Rosmer is a man on whom one can always count in a difficulty?

Trotsky had to move again. This time to Norway just before the Moscow trials and the sub(Continued 4) ( 1877 - 1964 During the civil war in Russia: left to right, Bela Kun, Alfred Rosmer:

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