The Writer Against the Anarchist: History of “Makhno and His Jewess” by Joseph Kessel

DOI: 10.47632/2786-717X-2025-4-209-226 УДК 94(477)”19”(092):821.133.1’06.09 How to Cite: Tetiana Portnova, The Writer Against the Anarchist: History of “Makhno and His Jewess” by Joseph Kessel, Ukrainian Historical Review / Український історичний огляд, ІV | 2025, 209–226. Tetiana Portnova The Writer Against the Anarchist: History of “Makhno and His Jewess” by Joseph Kessel The article analyzes “Makhno and His Jewess” (1926) by Joseph Kessel, the first and the most influential Western-European literary text, devoted to the leader of the peasant insurgent movement Nestor Makhno. Relying upon arbitrary unchecked sources, Kessel presented the anarchist to French readers as a bloody bandit and antisemite pogromist. “Makhno and His Jewess” can be read as a revealing example of sensational mass journalism, when the proposed image of Makhno completely fit the readers’ expectations as a recognizable figure of the “Russian bandit”. The text became particularly topical because shortly after its publication, Samuel Schwartzbard assassinated Symon Petliura and drew exceptional attention to the problem of anti-Jewish pogroms in Ukraine in 1918–1921. The article examines the history of the conflict between Joseph Kessel and Nestor Makhno, with the support of the French anarchist press, over the authenticity of the image created by the writer, including the public debate between them at the Club du Faubourg in June 1927. Very limited in his actions as a political emigrant, Makhno, despite his efforts, was unable to bring Kessel to justice for slander. Translated into several languages and actively republished, “Makhno and His Jewess” significantly contributed to a broader campaign of Makhno’s discreditation. The article also analyzes Mikaël Hirsch’s 2021 novel “L’assassinat de Joseph Kessel” (“The Assasination of Joseph Kessel”) – a contemporary rethinking of the conflict between the military leader and the writer who distorted his biography, seen first of all as a conflict between literary fantasy and reality. References Aldanov, Mark. Vzryv v Leontievskom pereulke // Mark Aldanov. Bolshaia Lubianka. Moskva 2002, s. 173–202. Allison, Charlie. No Harmless Power. The Life and Times of the Ukrainian Anarchist Nestor Makhno. Oakland 2023. Arshinov, Piotr. History of the Makhnovist Movement 1918–1921. Detroit – Chicago 1974. Aunoble, Eric. La figure de Nestor Makhno, ou les tribulations d’un héros révolutionnaire // Le Retour des héros: la reconstitution des mythologies nationales à l’heure du postcommunisme / ed. Korine Amacher et Leonid Heller. Louvain-la-Neuve 2010, p. 35–51. Avrich, Paul. Nestor Makhno. The Man and the Myth // Paul Avrich. Anarchists Portraits. Princeton 1988, p. 111–124. 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