Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

François Matheron (1955–2021) 

On April 3rd, the French Marxist philosopher François Matheron passed away from complications related to Covid-19. Here we publish an obituary by regular Left Voice contributor, Warren Montag, celebrating Matheron’s life and his contributions to Marxist thought.

Warren Montag

May 6, 2021
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo: Archives Familiales

The following brief reflection on the life of philosopher François Matheron, who passed away last month, was sent to us by Warren Montag. Readers may be familiar with Montag, a professor of English and comparative literature at Occidental College in California, who has appeared in our pages before. We hope that readers may be inspired by this very personal piece to explore the interesting questions of Marxist philosophy at which it hints.

François Matheron died on April 3, 2021, at the age of 65, after contracting Covid-19. His name is well known to readers of the French Marxist philosopher Louis Althusser: he had overseen the posthumous publication of some of Althusser’s most important texts, including Machiavelli and Us and The Underground Current of the Materialism of the Encounter, and was an unparalleled interpreter of what he called “Althusser after Althusser.” 

The news of François’ death was doubly painful for those of us who considered him a friend or colleague, as we had already been deeply affected when he suffered a severe stroke in 2005 that left him unable to speak or write. Even more tragic was its effect on his capacity to think: in fact, he emerged from the experience a different person. His extraordinary courage and fortitude, however, enabled him to relearn how to read and write, and in 2018, he published L’homme qui ne savait plus écrire (The Man Who No Longer Knew How to Write), an account of the long and finally incomplete process of recovering his intellectual faculties. 

The fact that François’ death is in some sense a second death, the death of someone who was not the person he had been before 2005, does nothing to diminish the sense of loss Like many of those who had known him before his stroke, I had very little contact with him after — I received a few very short emails, none of which sounded like the person I had known. I withdrew from him, as I now understand, hoping that he would find his way back to the person he had once been. 

I remember the somewhat shy, boyish figure, even in his forties, always appearing and disappearing behind a desk piled high with books, files, and papers when the Institute for Contemporary Publishing Archives (IMEC) was still in Paris, before the move to the abbaye d’Ardenne in Normandy. I remember the time he, with an air of triumph, placed before me a file containing hundreds of pages of Althusser’s notes on Spinoza; the time we tried, and failed, to decipher the notes taken at a presentation on Spinoza by Althusser by André Tosel, another French Marxist philosopher. 

François would never tell me about his own writing, even after it was published. I found it brilliant, especially when I didn’t agree, or thought I didn’t agree, with his conclusions. Le recurrence du vide chez Louis Althusser (The Recurrence of the Void in Louis Althusser) remains one of the most perceptive and original analyses of Althusser’s oeuvre, from the early work on Hegel to the texts devoted to aleatory materialism. 

François Matheron has left behind a double void, indelible traces of the accomplished and non-accomplished fact, the man who fought his way out of silence and nothingness only to disappear with so many others. His absence has placed in relief the gift he left us, the gift of his work. We owe it to him and to ourselves to read it anew and to explore the path he opened for us

Facebook Twitter Share

Warren Montag

Warren is a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Occidental College in Los Angeles. He is the editor of décalages and author of several books on the works of Adam Smith, Spinoza and Althusser.

Guest Posts

Lord Balfour Was an Imperialist Warmonger 

We should give our full solidarity to the Palestine Action comrade who defaced a portrait of Arthur Balfour at Cambridge University. But the problem for everyone who opposes the genocide against Gaza is how to massify and politically equip the movement.

Daniel Nath

March 21, 2024

“Poor Things” Floats Like a Butterfly and Stings Like a Butterfly

Poor Things is a fantastical comedy with beautiful set design and costumes and an Oscar-winning performance from Emma Stone. So why did it leave me feeling so empty? Despite juggling feminist and socialist ideas, the film is ideologically muddled and often self-contradictory.

Basil Rozlaban

March 16, 2024

The CUNY PSC Must Organize for Palestine

CUNY workers and students are rising up to defend their university against cuts, and to fight for the liberation of Palestine.

Lucien Baskin

March 8, 2024

The Tide Is Turning: New Yorkers Are Speaking Out for Palestinian Liberation

The city's anti-Zionist movement is speaking out for Palestinian liberation. Attitudes in the city's Jewish community are shifting rapidly.

Ana Orozco

February 23, 2024

MOST RECENT

A square in Argentina is full of protesters holding red banners

48 Years After the Military Coup, Tens of Thousands in Argentina Take to the Streets Against Denialism and the Far Right

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across Argentina on March 24 to demand justice for the victims of the state and the military dictatorship of 1976. This year, the annual march had renewed significance, defying the far-right government’s denialism and attacks against the working class and poor.

Madeleine Freeman

March 25, 2024

The Convulsive Interregnum of the International Situation

The capitalist world is in a "permacrisis" — a prolonged period of instability which may lead to catastrophic events. The ongoing struggles for hegemony could lead to open military conflicts.

Claudia Cinatti

March 22, 2024

Berlin’s Mayor Loves Antisemites

Kai Wegner denounces the “antisemitism” of left-wing Jews — while he embraces the most high-profile antisemitic conspiracy theorist in the world.

Nathaniel Flakin

March 22, 2024

What “The Daily” Gets Right and Wrong about Oregon’s Move to Recriminalize Drugs

A doctor at an overdose-prevention center responds to The Daily, a podcast produced by the New York Times, on the recriminalization of drugs in Oregon. What are the true causes of the addiction crisis, and how can we solve it?

Mike Pappas

March 22, 2024