Samuel Aarons (21 October 1895 – 10 January 1971) was an Australian radical activist and communist.

Early life

He was born in Prahran,

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

on the 21st of October 1895, to Louis and Jane Aarons (nee Hyam),'Aarons, Samuel (Sam) (1895–1971)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://labouraustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/aarons-samuel-sam-23222/text32420, accessed 5 May 2022. who passed on their radical politics to their son.

Biography

Sam joined the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...

at the age of sixteen and was an anti-war campaigner 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 ...

. This activism led to his sacking from his job at the Customs Department, and he was injured during a 1916 march to the

Victorian Parliament The Parliament of Victoria is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of Victoria that follows a Westminster-derived parliamentary system. It consists of the King, represented by the Governor of Victoria, the Legislative Assembly and ...

. Although his parents were founding members of the

Communist Party of Australia The Communist Party of Australia (CPA), known as the Australian Communist Party (ACP) from 1944 to 1951, was an Australian political party founded in 1920. The party existed until roughly 1991, with its membership and influence having been i ...

(CPA) in 1920, Sam instead established a chain of shoe repair stores in Sydney, although he did eventually join the CPA in 1930. He led a workers' delegation to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1934 and recruited a young unionist, Jim Healy, to the CPA; Healy would be one of the most significant unionists of his time. Aarons fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

on the republican side, not leaving until the collapse of the Republic began in 1938. Upon his return to Australia, Aarons embarked upon a speaking tour advocating for Spanish democracy. He remained active in communist affairs, but stood as an independent in the

1941 New South Wales state election The 1941 New South Wales state election was held on 10 May 1941. This election was for all of the 90 seats in the 33rd New South Wales Legislative Assembly and was conducted in single-member constituencies with compulsory preferential voting. ...

for the western Sydney seat of Granville, where he only received 4.5%. Later he became Western Australian State Secretary and a longtime member of the Central Committee. He retired in 1968. Aarons had three sons: two, Laurie and

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

, by his first wife, and a third, Gerald, by his second wife, Annette Moore.

References

1895 births 1971 deaths Communist Party of Australia members Jewish socialists People from Prahran, Victoria Activists from Melbourne Foreign volunteers in the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) {{Australia-bio-stub