Wikiberal proudhon biography

Proudhon: A Biography
by Dana Ward

Proudhon is a rarity among anarchist philosophers in that he was of quite humble peasant origins.

Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (Woodcock biography) - Wikipedia

He began his working life herding cows and doing chores at home. His mother, Catherine Simonin, was determined that he get some education, however, and when the family moved into town in 1820 arrangements were made to enroll him in a school. The fees were waived through his father's employer's connections. Still without sufficient funds, he was routinely punished at school for "forgetting" the books he could not afford to buy.

Although he intended to go on to study for a baccalaureate, family financial difficulties prevented him from pursuing a higher degree upon graduation and he turned his talents instead to the printer's trade, a profession which gave birth to many anarchists, but the first to call himself an anarchist was Proudhon.

By mid-century, Proudhon was the leading left intellectual in France or for that matter, all of Europe, far surp Ward's Proudhon Biography SOB