Peter Alekseyevich KropotkinBorn 21 Dec 1842; died 8 Feb 1921 at age 78. Russian geographer and revolutionist, who combined biological and historical fact to arrive at his theory of Mutual Aid (1902). While an army officer in Siberia (1862-67), he studied the native animals, made geographical surveys, and examined the effects of the Ice Age in Asia and Europe. His investigation of the structural lines of mountain ranges revised the cartography of eastern Asia. He wrote a series of articles against social Darwinism and its tenet of the benefits of competition. Kropotkin asserted that sociability characterized animals. Thus, he held, cooperation rather than struggle guided the evolution of man and human intelligence. His greatest renown, though, was as an anarchist.« |
