Rosina Smith (10 May 1891 – 23 July 1985) was a British

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activist, educator and union organizer.

Early life

Born Rosina Ellis in Putney in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Smith moved with her family first to Clay Cross and then

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, where she won a scholarship to attend secondary school. She then became a

pupil teacher Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...

and, in 1909, qualified as an infant school teacher.Gisela Chan Man Fong,
The Life and Times of Rose Smith in Britain and China, 1891 - 1985
Smith joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

(SDF) in about 1910 and, the following year, attended a course on political science run by the

Workers Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

(WEA). She was offered a place at

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

to train as a WEA lecturer, but rejected it, as she was concerned that the WEA would restrict her from expressing her

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

views. However, she did attend WEA summer schools at Balliol College in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. She remained a member of the SDF it later became the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

.Graham Stevenson,
Smith Rose
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' In 1916, she married Alfred Smith, and was thereby compelled to leave her teaching job. Instead, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she worked in a munitions factory, where she became the leading trade unionist and, later, a full-time union official.

Activism in Mansfield

Around this time, Smith moved to

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market tow ...

in nearby

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

, where she joined the Socialist Labour Party, the local branch then led by John Lavin and Owen Ford.Kevin Morgan et al, ''Communists and British society, 1920-1991'', p.147 In 1922, the entire branch joined the new

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), although as she was married and had young twin children, the CPGB decided to place her on a special probationary membership. Despite this, Smith became a highly active member, the secretary of the Mansfield Labour College, a delegate to Mansfield

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of labour unions or union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, region, or provincial or ...

, and a prominent member of the

National Minority Movement The National Minority Movement was a British organisation, established in 1924 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, which attempted to organise a radical presence within the existing trade unions. The organization was headed by longtime unio ...

. In 1928, Smith became the CPGB's National Women's Officer, and the following year, she became a full-time organiser for the CPGB. She stood as the party's candidate in

at the 1929 general election, taking only 533 votes. Smith and her husband had drifted apart, and the two separated in 1930; she moved with the children to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, hoping to organise women involved in local textile work to join the Minority Movement. She was selected to stand for the party in the Burnley constituency at the 1931 general election, but was arrested after supporting pickets during a strike and sentenced to three months in prison.

Later career in England

On her release, Smith relocated to nearby Bolton, where she stood in the 1932 council election. In that year, she led the Women's Hunger March, and was elected to the CPGB's Central Committee, serving until 1938. Although generally loyal to the party line, she opposed the dissolution of the National Minority Movement, and lobbied for the party to support

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

. From 1942 until 1955, Smith worked as a journalist with 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 ...

''; she then retired to Chesterfield and devoted the remainder of the decade to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. By 1960, she had become bored with this, and decided to move to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

to live with her son, but she felt she was a burden there. She spoke with Ted Hill and decided to take up a post in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, working for the Foreign Languages Press. After speaking with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

, she decided to support

Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

following the Sino-Soviet split; this led her to lose contact with many former friends in the CPGB.

China

Smith later worked on ''

China Reconstructs ''China Today'' (), until 1990 titled ''China Reconstructs'' (), is a monthly magazine founded in 1952 by Soong Ching-ling in association with Israel Epstein. It is published in Chinese language, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German and Tu ...

'', the semi-official journal that presented China to foreign readers, and then at the

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: )J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English, or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. Xinhua ...

. She left China during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...

, returning to the Chesterfield, where she worked in a nursing home, but later went back to China, on the personal request of

. She worked until the age of 90, and continued to appear at official events in Beijing until her death in 1985.''China Now'', Nos.115-119, p.37

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Rose 1891 births 1985 deaths English emigrants to China British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members English trade unionists Maoists People from Chesterfield, Derbyshire Social Democratic Federation members Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members Women trade unionists