Mutual Aid · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in Mutual Aid by Peter Kropotkin.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Charles Darwin
major
Also known as Darwin
Darwin looms over the entire argument as the authority whose name is invoked by both sides of the debate over what drives evolution. Kropotkin accepts Darwin's framework but insists that the struggle for existence has been dangerously overstated, and that mutual aid is an equally fundamental law of animal life. His presence matters because the book's central claim — that cooperation is a greater evolutionary force than competition — can only be made by wrestling with Darwin's legacy.
Alfred Brehm
supporting
Also known as Brehm, the old Brehm, Brehm Father
Brehm's encyclopedic studies of birds, mammals, and insects serve as a primary source for Kropotkin's case that sociability is the norm across species. His careful accounts of migrations, breeding associations, and hunting packs give the argument its empirical weight, grounding abstract theory in the observed behavior of real creatures. Without his patient fieldwork, Kropotkin's claim that mutual aid is a law of nature would lack its most persuasive evidence.
Karl Kessler
supporting
Also known as Professor Kessler, Kessler
Kessler, a respected dean at St. Petersburg University, delivered a landmark address months before his death arguing that mutual support, not struggle, drives the progressive development of species. His ideas, published only in Russian, remained nearly unknown until Kropotkin seized upon them and built an entire theory of evolution and human society around them. He matters because he is the forgotten originator of the book's central thesis, the man whose insight Kropotkin credits as the first true understanding of mutual aid as a law of nature.
John Lubbock
minor
Also known as Sir John Lubbock, Lubbock
English banker and naturalist whose works on ants and primitive societies are referenced.
W. H. Hudson
minor
Also known as W. H. Hudson, Hudson
Naturalist and author whose observations of animal behavior in South America are cited.
John James Audubon
minor
Also known as Audubon
Ornithologist and painter whose field observations of birds are referenced.
Alfred Russel Wallace
minor
Also known as Wallace, A. R. Wallace
Naturalist and co-discoverer of natural selection, cited on animal sociability.
Auguste Forel
minor
Also known as Forel
Swiss myrmecologist and neuroanatomist, expert on ant societies.
Pierre Huber
minor
Also known as Pierre Huber, The Ants Pierre Huber, Huber
Swiss entomologist known for studies of ant behavior and mutual aid.
Henry Maine
minor
Also known as Sir Henry Maine, Henry Maine, Maine
Legal historian whose work on ancient law and village communities is discussed.
Johann Jakob Bachofen
minor
Also known as Bachofen, ↩ Bachofen
Swiss anthropologist who theorized about matriarchy and primitive communism.
Achille Luchaire
minor
Also known as Luchaire
French historian of medieval institutions and communal movements.
Georg Ludwig von Maurer
minor
Also known as Maurer
German historian who studied the primitive Germanic mark and village community.
Alfred Espinas
minor
Also known as Espinas
French sociologist and philosopher who wrote on animal societies.
Thomas Hobbes
minor
Also known as Hobbes
Philosopher whose 'war of all against all' is contrasted with mutual aid.
Thomas Henry Huxley
minor
Also known as Huxley
Biologist and advocate of Darwinism, criticized for his view of nature as a gladiator show.
Lewis H. Morgan
minor
Also known as Morgan, L. H. Morgan, Lewis H. Morgan
American anthropologist whose work on primitive society and the gens is cited.
Maxim Kovalevsky
minor
Also known as Kovalevsky, Maxim Kovalevsky, Prof. Maxim Kovalevsky, M. Kovalevsky
Russian sociologist and historian of communal land tenure and medieval guilds.
Henry Walter Bates
minor
Also known as W. Bates, Bates, H. W. Bates, ↩ Bates
English naturalist and explorer of the Amazon, cited on animal mimicry and sociability.
Herbert Spencer
minor
Also known as Herbert Spencer, Spencer
Philosopher and sociologist, proponent of social Darwinism, criticized in the text.
James Watt
minor
Also known as James Watt
Scottish inventor, mentioned in context of industrial revolution and individualism.
Nikolai Severtsov
minor
Also known as Syevertsoff, ↩ N. Syevertsoff
Russian naturalist and explorer, cited on animal behavior in Central Asia.
Ludwig Büchner
minor
Also known as L. Büchner, Büchner
German philosopher and physician, materialist, cited on mutual aid.
Albert Hermann Post
minor
Also known as Post
German jurist and ethnologist, cited on primitive law and communal property.
Toulmin Smith
minor
Also known as Toulmin Smith, Miss Toulmin Smith, Smith, Miss Smith
English legal antiquary, cited on medieval guilds and English municipal history.
John Ferguson McLennan
minor
Also known as MacLennan, J. F. MacLennan
Scottish ethnologist, cited on primitive marriage and kinship systems.
Ivan Polyakov
minor
Also known as Polyakoff
Russian naturalist and explorer, cited on the customs of the Buryats.
Edvard Westermarck
minor
Also known as Prof. Westermarck, Westermarck
Finnish anthropologist, cited on the history of human marriage and morality.
Charles John Cornish
minor
Also known as Mr. C. J. Cornish, Mr. Cornish
English naturalist and writer, cited on animal behavior and wildlife.
Charles Dixon
minor
Also known as Ch . Dixon
English ornithologist, cited on bird migration and nesting associations.
Edward VI of England
minor
Also known as Edward VI
King of England, cited in context of Tudor poor laws and social regulation.
Geselle
minor
Also known as Geselle, the Geselle
German term for journeyman, discussed in context of medieval guilds.
Alexander Sutherland
minor
Also known as Mr. Sutherland
Australian philosopher and psychologist, cited on the origin of moral instincts.
Gottfried Adlerz
minor
Also known as Professor Gottfried Adlerz
Swedish entomologist, cited on the social behavior of wasps and ants.
Henry Walter Bates
minor
Also known as Mr. Bates, Bates
English naturalist and explorer, cited on Amazonian Indian customs.
Gustav von Schmoller
minor
Also known as Schmoller
German economist of the historical school, cited on medieval economic organization.
Bernard Altum
minor
Also known as Dr. Altum, Dr. B. Altum
German zoologist and forester, cited on bird territoriality and mutual aid.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
minor
Also known as Goethe
German poet and naturalist, quoted on nature and cooperation.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
minor
Also known as Rousseau
Philosopher whose ideas on the noble savage and social contract are referenced.
Plutarch
minor
Also known as Plutarch
Greek biographer and essayist, cited on ancient customs and mutual aid.
Theodor Waitz
minor
Also known as Waitz, ↩ Waitz
German anthropologist whose work on primitive peoples is referenced.
Ida Pfeiffer
minor
Also known as Ida Pfeiffer
Austrian explorer and travel writer, cited on customs of primitive peoples.
Ivan Veniaminov
minor
Also known as Veniaminoff
Russian missionary and ethnographer of the Aleut people.
Johannes Falke
minor
Also known as Falke
German historian of medieval trade and guilds.
Lujo Brentano
minor
Also known as Brentano
German economist and social reformer, cited on medieval guilds and trade unions.
Frederic Seebohm
minor
Also known as Mr. Seebohm, Seebohm
English economic historian, cited on the English village community and open fields.
Hinrich Rink
minor
Also known as Dr. H. Rink, Dr. Rink, Rink
Danish geologist and ethnographer of Greenland and the Eskimo.
Heinrich Schurtz
minor
Also known as H. Schurtz
German ethnographer, cited on age-classes and secret societies.
Peter Kolb
minor
Also known as Kolben, ↩ P. Kolben
German traveler and ethnographer of the Hottentots (Khoikhoi).
Nikolay Kostomarov
minor
Also known as Kostomaroff, ↩ N. Kostomaroff
Ukrainian historian, cited on the early Slavic communal institutions.
Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi
minor
Also known as Sismondi, ↩ Sismondi
Swiss historian and economist, cited on medieval Italian republics and guilds.
Samuel Plimsoll
minor
Also known as 313 Mr. Plimsoll, Mr. Plimsoll
English politician and social reformer, known for the Plimsoll line on ships.
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury
minor
Also known as Lord Shaftesbury
English philanthropist and social reformer, cited on factory acts and mutual aid.
William Healey Dall
minor
Also known as Dall
American naturalist and ethnographer of Alaska and the Aleut people.
Carl Bock
minor
Also known as Carl Bock, Bock, Carl, See Carl Bock
Norwegian naturalist and explorer of Borneo and Sumatra.
Wilhelm Arnold
minor
Also known as W. Arnold, ↩ W. Arnold, Dr. W. Arnold
German legal historian, cited on the primitive German mark and village community.
Ivan Belyaev
minor
Also known as Byelaeff, ↩ Byelaeff
Russian historian, cited on the early Russian communal land system.
Erwin Nasse
minor
Also known as Nasse
German economist and historian, cited on medieval agrarian history.
Adolf Buchenberger
minor
Also known as Buchenberger, A. Buchenberger
German economist, cited on agrarian history and village communities.
Paul Vinogradoff
minor
Also known as Prof. Vinogradov, Vinogradov
Russian-British legal historian, cited on the English manor and village community.
Étienne Martin-Saint-Léon
minor
Also known as Martin - Saint - Léon, E. Martin - Saint - Léon, Dr. E. Martin Saint - Léon, Martin - Saint Léon
French historian of medieval guilds and corporations.
Charles Gross
minor
Also known as Mr. Gross
American historian of English guilds and municipal institutions.
Giuseppe Ferrari
minor
Also known as Ferrari
Italian historian and philosopher, cited on the history of political revolutions.
Johannes Janssen
minor
Also known as Janssen, ↩ Janssen
German historian, cited on the social and economic history of the Middle Ages.
Paul-Émile Botta
minor
Also known as Botta
French archaeologist and diplomat, cited on ancient Assyrian civilization.
Johann Peter Eckermann
minor
Also known as Eckermann
German poet and author, known for conversations with Goethe.
Heinrich Leo
minor
Also known as Leo, Dr. Leonard Ennen
German historian, cited on medieval city constitutions and guilds.
Riches
minor
Also known as Riches
Author cited on the social organization of primitive tribes.
Alice Stopford Green
minor
Also known as Mrs. Green, J. R. Green, Mrs. J. R. Green
Irish historian and nationalist, cited on medieval English town life.
Mrs. S.
minor
Also known as Mrs. S.
Anonymous correspondent cited on mutual aid among the poor in London.
King Knu
minor
Also known as King Knu
Legendary or historical figure cited in context of primitive kingship.
Hermann von Ihering
minor
Also known as Dr. Ihering
German-Brazilian zoologist, cited on the social behavior of ants and termites.
Orest Miller and Maxim Kovalevsky
minor
Also known as ↩ O. Miller and M. Kovalevsky, M. Kovalevsky
Russian scholars cited jointly on Slavic communal institutions.
