French Workers' Party

French Workers' Party
French Workers' Party; Parti Ouvrier Français
Founders	Jules Guesde, Paul Lafargue
Founded	1880
Dissolved	1905
Merged into	French Socialist Party
Ideology	Socialism; Blanquism
Political position	Left-wing
International affiliation	None
Colours	Red
	Politics of France; Political parties; Elections

French Workers' Party emblem, c. 1880

The Parti Ouvrier Français (POF, or French Workers' Party) was the Socialist party in France, created in 1880 by Jules Guesde and Paul Lafargue, Marx's son-in-law (famous for having written The Right to Be Lazy, which criticized labour's alienation). A revolutionary party, it had as aim to abolish capitalism and replace it with a socialist society.

The party originated with a secession from Federation of the Socialist Workers of France, founded 1879, after a split with Paul Brousse's possibilists. The Parti Ouvrier's programme, written by Guesde with input from Marx, Lafargue, and Friedrich Engels, was approved at the opening congress. The party became the POF in 1893. In 1902, it merged with the Blanquist Central Revolutionary Committee to form the Socialist Party of France, and finally merged in 1905 with Jean Jaurès' French Socialist Party to form the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Marcel Cachin, who would lead the split in 1920 which led to the creation of the French Communist Party and edited L'Humanité newspaper, became a member of the POF in 1891.

The Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Loire and Allier were the principal bastions of POF electoral strength.

Principal members

Jules Guesde (1845–1922), Founding member, elected deputy.
Paul Lafargue (1842–1911), son in law of Karl Marx, elected deputy.
Marcel Cachin (1869–1958), member from 1891, led the SFIO Tours split in 1920, future director of L'Humanité.
Alexandre Bracke-Desrousseaux (1861–1955), professor (Greek Philosophy), future elected deputy for the SFIO.
Alexandre Zévaès (1873–1953), elected deputy Isère (1898–1910).
Bernard Cadenat (1853–1930), shemaker, elected deputy Bouches-du-Rhône (1898-1919 et 1924-1930), Mayor of Marseille (1910–1912).
Ulysse Pastre (1864–1930), researcher, elected deputy Gard (1898–1910).
Jean-Baptiste Bénézech (1852–1909), printer, elected deputy Hérault (1898–1909), president of the typography workers union.
René Chauvin (1860–1936), barber, elected deputy Seine (1893–1898), founder of the coiffeurs workers union. In 1914, he quit the SFIO to found a small workers party promoing a return to class war.
Hubert Lagardelle (1875–1968), revolutionary syndicalist.
Prosper Ferrero, elected deputy for Marseille in 1898-1910, mayor of Toulon (1893), vice-président du conseil général (1914–1915).
Jean Bertrand : elected deputy for Corbeil
Other elected deputies : Philippe Krauss, Bernard, Dufour, etc.
Pierre Mélin(1863–1929) luthier, vice-président of Prud'hommes de Valenciennes, elected deputy.
Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854–1936) antisemitic anthropologist and eugenist, Procureur de la République and professor.

WILLARD C., Le Mouvement socialiste en France, 1893-1905. Les guesdistes, Ed. sociales, 1965.
VERLHAC J., La formation de l’unité socialiste (1898-1905), L’Harmattan, 1997 (réed. d'un mémoire paru en 1947).