Abstract

The article argues that the core of the Discours de la servitude volontaire - written by the French poet and humanist Étienne de La Boétie (1530-1563) - was profoundly influential and inspiring for the political and philosophical thought of the German-Jewish thinker, anarchist, and politician Gustav Landauer (1870-1919). Such affinity of thought might have led Landauer to translate La Boétie's essay and circulate it within the revolutionary climate of the early 20th-century Germany. Furthermore, the article provides a better understanding of Landauer's theoretical concept of revolution and throws light on the editorial transmission of La Boétie's Discours in Germany.