Simon Blumenfeld (25 November 1907 – 13 April 2005) was a British columnist, author, playwright, theatre critic, editor and

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 ...

. Although he described himself as Jewish, he was born to a family of Sicilian refugees, who eventually settled in

Whitechapel Whitechapel is a district in East London and the future administrative centre of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a part of the East End of London, east of Charing Cross. Part of the historic county of Middlesex, the area formed ...

, in the

East End of London The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

as an expert in German munitions, before becoming a scriptwriter for ''Stars in Battledress'', an army talent show.''Simon Blumenfeld (Obituary)'', The Guardian 18 April 2005
/ref> At the end of the war he founded the entertainment magazine ''Band Wagon'',Named for the radio show ''

Band Waggon ''Band Waggon'' was a comedy radio show broadcast by the BBC from 1938 to 1940. The first series featured Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch, Richard "Stinker" Murdoch. In the second series, Askey and Murdoch were joined by Syd Walker, and the thir ...

''. with Norman Kark. He adopted a number of pseudonyms for his writing, including Sidney Vauncez (the

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

word for moustache), CV Curtis, and Peter Simon. He founded the ''Weekly Sporting Review'', which collapsed when sued for libel by the managers of

Tommy Steele Sir Thomas Hicks (born 17 December 1936), known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star. After being discovered at the 2i's Coffee Bar in Soho, London, Steele reco ...

; and then ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...

'' with Benny Green. Simon Blumenfeld died at

Barnet Hospital Barnet Hospital is a district general hospital situated in Barnet, in North London. It is managed by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. Overview The original hospital on the site was the Wellhouse Hospital which was opened by Viscount ...

in North London on 13 April 2005, at the age of 97. He had maintained his writing output until a few weeks before his passing, and his name was listed in the ''

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' as the 'World's Oldest Columnist'. 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), ...

, where a memorial plaque remains in the 'communist corner'.

Works

Novels

*''Jew Boy'' - published in the US as ''The Iron Garden'' (1932) eprinted: Lawrence and Wishart, 1986; London Books, 2011">Lawrence_and_Wishart.html" ;"title="eprinted: Lawrence and Wishart">eprinted: Lawrence and Wishart, 1986; London Books, 2011*''Phineas Kahn: Portrait of an Immigrant'' (1937) [reprinted by Lawrence and Wishart, 1987, with an introduction by Steven Berkoff, and by London Books, 2019, with an introduction by Peter Mason] *''Doctor of the Lost'' (1938) [reprinted by London Books, 2013, with an introduction by Paolo Hewitt] *''They Won't Let You Live'' (1939) *''The Catalones Bandit'' (1947) s Huck Messer (Yiddish: carving knife)

Plays

*''The Battle of Cable Street'' (1987)

Editor and columnist

*''Band Wagon'' *''Weekly Sporting Review'' *''

'' *'' The Stage''

Personal

Simon was married to Deborah Blumenfeld, who died in 1960. They had two children, son Eric and daughter Sheba.

Notes

References

''Simon Blumenfeld: Obituary''
Peter Hepple '' The Guardian'', 18 April 2005
''Simon Blumenfeld - Columnist, author, playwright, theatre critic, editor and former light entertainment editor of The Stage''
'' Press Gazette'', 6 May 2008

External links

Rachel Lichtenstein write about Blumenfeld's novel 'Jew Boy'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumenfeld, Simon 1907 births 2005 deaths English columnists English Jewish writers English magazine editors English music journalists English sportswriters People from Whitechapel Golders Green Crematorium English male novelists 20th-century English novelists Communist writers Communist Party of Great Britain members Jewish socialists British Army personnel of World War II Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers