August Spies
August Spies | |
|---|---|
Spies' appearance at the time of his conviction in 1886 | |
| Born | December 10, 1855 Landecker Berg, Electorate of Hesse, German Confederation |
| Died | November 11, 1887 (aged 31) Cook County Jail, Illinois, United States |
| Resting place | Forest Home Cemetery |
| Monuments | Haymarket Martyrs' Monument |
| Occupations | Upholsterer, newspaper editor |
| Political party | Socialist Labor Party |
| Criminal status | Executed by hanging |
| Spouse | Nina van Zandt (m. 1887) |
| Conviction | Conspiracy to commit murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
August Vincent Theodore Spies (/spiːs/, SPEES; December 10, 1855 – November 11, 1887) was an American upholsterer, radical labor activist, and newspaper editor. One of the most prominent German-speaking anarchists in America during the decade of the 1880s, Spies was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder following a bomb attack on police in an event remembered as the Haymarket affair. Spies was one of four who were executed in the aftermath of this event.