Today in Labor History September 5, 1794: Radical democrat priest Jacques Roux was arrested in France. He had preached for a classless society and became a leader of the revolutionary far-left during the French Revolution. He argued for full economic equality among all people. He demanded food for anyone who needed it and called on the wealthy to be executed if they hoarded it. His radicalism helped turned the sans-culottes against the more conservative Jacobins. Rather than allow the revolutionary court to execute him he stabbed himself to death in prison.

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Today in Labor History August 21, 1752: French radical priest Jacques Roux (1752-1794) was born in Charente, France. He participated in the French Revolution and fought for a classless society and the abolition of private property. He also helped radicalize the Parisian working class. Roux was a leader of the far-left faction, Enrages, and was elected to the Paris Commune in 1791. He demanded that food be available for everyone and argued that the wealthy should executed if they horded it.

Roux is featured in a mission in the French Revolution-set game Assassin's Creed Unity. He is also portrayed in Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade. Here, Roux is dressed in a straight jacket in an asylum and the asylum directors cut off his dialogue to symbolize the state’s desire to restrain political radicals.

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Today in Labor History February 10, 1794: The French revolutionist Jacques Roux (1752-1794) committed suicide on this date in his Paris prison cell after the Committee for Public Safety arrested him during the French Revolution. Also known as the "Red Priest," Roux denounced those monopolizing the revolution, the speculator, the merchant, government and the parliamentary state. Roux anticipated many of the themes that Karl Marx would later develop. Roux’s rhetoric inspired food riots during his day and discord in the Paris Commune, 80 years later.

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