Verdaguer Shot

Photographer Eugène Appert was allowed to take pictures in 1871 of the arrested Communards in prison. Among the more than 300 portraits in the IISH collection are three portraits of Sergeant Verdaguer, who was shot on 22 February 1872. With a cigar in his hand, he looks almost carelessly at the camera.
Galdric Verdaguer (born in 1842) was in Montmarte (Paris) with his battalion during the Commune. He seemed to be sensitive to public pleas, and, acting counter to his general's orders, he ordered his soldiers not to shoot. Verdaguer then sided with the rebels and he was arrested on 3 June.