John Gollan (2 April 1911 – 5 September 1977) was a British political leader who was general secretary of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

(CPGB) from 1956 to 1975. Gollan was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, where he grew up and took his first job as a painter's apprentice. His first introduction to political activity was during the

1926 general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...

when he helped distribute the papers of the strike committee. On

International Workers' Day International Workers' Day, also known as Labour Day in some countries and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working classes that is promoted by the international labour movement and occurs every year on 1 May, ...

, 1 May, the following year he joined the and its youth wing the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of YC ...

(YCL). He became a

signwriter Signwriters design, manufacture and install signs, including advertising signs for shops, businesses and public facilities as well as signs for transport systems. Signwriting today Traditional signwriters use methods closely related to th ...

but his career was cut short in July 1931 when he was arrested for distributing anti-militarist leaflets. He had been organising soldiers to demand better rights and conditions, an activity for which he was sentenced to 6 months in

HM Prison Edinburgh His Majesty's Prison Edinburgh is located in the west of Edinburgh on the main A71 road, A71, in an area now known as Stenhouse, Edinburgh, Stenhouse, and, although never named as such, has commonly been known as Saughton Prison from the Saugh ...

. After a popular campaign calling for his release he was freed in January 1932 and began working for the party. Gollan became the editor of the 's newspaper ''The Young Worker'' and its successor publication '' Challenge''. He did this for several years until his election as General Secretary of the in 1935. He then held various regional posts before becoming the party's national organiser in 1945. In 1949, he became assistant editor of the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were m ...

'', and in 1954 he became the party's Assistant General Secretary. John Gollan - Golders Green Crematorium

In 1956 he became the party's General Secretary and immediately had to deal with the drop in membership following the Soviet crushing of the Hungarian Revolution. He held the post until 9 March 1975, when he resigned after being diagnosed with lung cancer, and died in 1977. He was cremated at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

References

External links

John Gollan Archive
Marxists Internet Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Gollan, John 1911 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Scottish politicians Communist Party of Great Britain members Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom Politicians from Edinburgh Young Communist League of Britain members