Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin (/kroʊˈpɒtkɪn/;^[10] Russian: Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин Russian pronunciation: [ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪt͡ɕ krɐˈpotkʲɪn]; 9 December 1842^[11][a] – 8 February 1921) was a Russian anarchist, socialist, revolutionary, economist, sociologist, historian, zoologist, political scientist, human geographer,^[12] philosopher, and activist who advocated anarcho-communism.

Born into an aristocratic land-owning family, Kropotkin attended a military school and later served as an officer in Siberia, where he participated in several geological expeditions. He was imprisoned for his activism in 1874 and managed to escape two years later. He spent the next 41 years in exile in Switzerland, France (where he was imprisoned for almost four years) and England. While in exile, he gave lectures and published widely on anarchism and geography.^[13] Kropotkin returned to Russia after the Russian Revolution in 1917, but he was disappointed by the Bolshevik state.