Herman Gorter

Herman Gorter

Herman Gorter (November 26, 1864, Wormerveer - September 15, 1927, Brussels) was a Dutch poet and socialist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers, a highly influential group of Dutch writers who worked together in Amsterdam in the 1880s, centered around De Nieuwe Gids (The New Guide). Gorter's first book, a 4,000 verse epic poem called "Mei" ("May"), sealed his reputation as a great writer upon its publication in 1889, and is regarded as the pinnacle of Dutch Impressionist literature. Gorter rapidly followed this up with a book of short lyric poetry simply called "Verzen" ("Verses") in 1890, which, after the initial bad reviews, was equally hailed as a masterpiece. Gorter shared in common with the Tachtigers an interest in leftist politics, and became the most politically involved of the group, becoming an active writer on socialist theory. He joined the Social Democratic Labour Party (Sociaal-Democratische Arbeiderspartij or SDAP) in 1897. In 1909 he participated in a schism from the SDAP to form the Social-Democratic Party (Sociaal-Democratische Partij) of the Netherlands. He wrote a massive new epic poem called Pan in 1912, describing the First World War being followed by a global Socialist revolution. In 1917, he hailed the Russian revolution as the beginning of that global revolution, although he soon afterward came to oppose Lenin. In 1918 the Social-Democratic Party changed its name to the Communist Party of Holland (Communistische Partij Holland), and in 1919 Gorter left the party. In 1921 he was a founding member of the Communist Workers Party of Germany, joining its Essen Faction and becoming a leading supporter of the Communist Workers International. Gorter died in Brussels in 1927. Gorter was involved with the Significs group. Part of the Politics series onLeft communism Concepts Anti-Bolshevism Revolutionary Spontaneity Proletarian internationalism Class Consciousness Class struggle Mass strike Workers Council World revolution Communism People Karl Marx Friedrich Engels Daniel De Leon Rosa Luxemburg Otto Rhle Amadeo Bordiga Onorato Damen Herman Gorter Antonie Pannekoek Gavril Myasnikov Karl Korsch Sylvia Pankhurst Paul Mattick Grandizo Munis Maximilien Rubel Jan Appel Karl Liebknecht Karl Schrder Marc Chirik (Marc Laverne) Guy Debord Antonio Negri E.T. Kingsley Organizations Spartacus League Communist Workers International International Communist Party International Communist Current International Bureau Internationalist Perspective World Socialist Movement Socialisme ou Barbarie Related topics Western Marxism Council communism Luxemburgism Ultra-leftism Libertarian Marxism Autonomism Impossibilism De Leonism Situationist International Communism portalv d e

Herman Gorter's Books:

[Een Klein Heldendicht]

Tags: william allan neilson  ida baccini  charlotte higgins  charles tayler  frederic brown  william bowen  arthur clutton brock  william ferris  h addington bruce  f marvin