Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin was a notable Russian anarchist and geographer renowned for his advocacy of anarchist communism. Born on December 9, 1842, into an aristocratic land-owning family, he initially attended the Page Corps and later served as an officer in Siberia. During his service, he participated in several significant geological expeditions.

Kropotkin's life took a dramatic turn due to his activism, leading to his imprisonment in 1874. Remarkably, he managed to escape two years later and spent the subsequent 41 years in exile across Switzerland, France, and England. Despite these challenges, Kropotkin remained prolific; he gave lectures and published extensively on topics such as anarchism and geography.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Kropotkin returned to Russia, although he was ultimately disappointed by the Bolshevik regime. Throughout his life, he championed the idea of a decentralized communist society devoid of central government, advocating for voluntary associations of self-governing communities and worker-managed enterprises.

Kropotkin's literary contributions were significant, with his most prominent works being The Conquest of Bread (1892) and Fields, Factories, and Workshops (1899). His scientific work, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902), is regarded as a principal offering. Additionally, Kropotkin contributed to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica and left behind an unfinished work on anarchist ethical philosophy.