Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a communist activist and British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. Saklatvala is notable for being the first person of Indian heritage to become a British Member of Parliament (MP) for the

UK Labour Party The Labour Party is a political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of social democrats, democratic socialists and trade unionists. The Labour Party sits on the centre-left of the political spectrum. In all gene ...

, and was also among the few members 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) to serve as an MP.

Early years

Shapurji Saklatvala was born on 28 March 1874 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, the son of a merchant, Dorabji Saklatvala, and his wife Jerbai, a sister of Jamsetji (aka J.N.) Tata, the owner of India's largest commercial and industrial empire.Article by Mike Squires. He was educated at St. Xavier's School in Bombay before moving to

St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

for his collegiate education.Colin Holmes, "Shapurgi Dorabji Saklatvala," in A. Thomas Lane (ed.), ''Biographical Dictionary of European Labor Leaders: M-Z.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1995; p. 835. He worked briefly as an iron and coal prospector for Tata successfully unearthing iron ore and coal deposits in the states of Bihar and Odisha (previously called Orissa). His health suffered with malaria which led to his moving to England in 1905Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' p. 236. to convalesce and run Tata's Manchester office. He later joined

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...

, although he left before qualifying as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

Political career

Saklatvala was a committed socialist, and first joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in Manchester in 1909. The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia of November 1917 was an inspiration to Saklatvala, and following the establishment of the Communist International in 1919, he became active in attempting to affiliate the ILP with that new organisation. Saklatvala joined with

Emile Burns Bernard Emile Vivian Burns (16 April 1889 – 29 November 1972) was a British communist, economist, translator and author as an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. Early life and family Emile Burns was born in Basseterr ...

R. Palme Dutt Rajani Palme Dutt (19 June 1896 – 20 December 1974), generally known as R. Palme Dutt, was a leading journalist and theoretician in the Communist Party of Great Britain. His classic book ''India Today'' heralded the Marxist approach in In ...

J. Walton Newbold John Turner Walton Newbold (8 May 1888 – 20 February 1943), generally known as Walton Newbold, was the first of the four Communist Party of Great Britain members to be elected as MPs in the United Kingdom. Biography Early years John Turner W ...

, Helen Crawfurd, and others as part of an organised faction called the

Left Wing Group of the ILP Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...

which was dedicated to this effort. When the affiliation drive by Saklatvala and the ILP's left wing ended in failure in the party's March 1921 national conference, Saklatvala left the organisation with the others in the Left Wing Group to join the new Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB). He attended the

2nd Pan-African Congress The Pan-African Congress was a series of eight meetings, held in 1919 in Paris (1st Pan-African Congress), 1921 in London, Brussels and Paris (2nd Pan-African Congress), 1923 in London (3rd Pan-African Congress), 1927 in New York City (4th Pan-Afr ...

held in Paris in 1921 as a delegate of the CPGB. In the October 1922 general election, the Communist Party of Great Britain launched its first electoral campaign, putting forward candidates in six constituencies.Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' p. 188. Saklatvala ran in the

Battersea North Battersea North could refer to: * Battersea North (UK Parliament constituency) * Battersea North (London County Council constituency) * Battersea North (electoral division), Greater London Council {{disambig ...

district of London, one of two Communists to receive the official endorsement of the Labour Party – which was in effect an umbrella organisation which included affiliated political parties like the ILP as well as representatives of various trade unions. Saklatvala won election in North Battersea, receiving 11,311 votes – topping his nearest rival by more than 2,000 votes. Also elected running as a Communist, without official Labour Party support, was

, capturing a

plurality Plurality may refer to: Voting * Plurality (voting), or relative majority, when a given candidate receives more votes than any other but still fewer than half of the total ** Plurality voting, system in which each voter votes for one candidate and ...

of the vote in

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

. Saklatvala was accepted into the Labour Party's parliamentary caucus, but while Newbold applied for the same, he was rejected. This did not stop Saklatvala and Newbold from joint activity, however, and the pair attempted to raise the demands of the unemployed and the cause of cheap housing and lower rents whenever possible.Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' p. 193. Newbold wound up being suspended from the House in May 1923 over his actions with respect to the Curzon ultimatum during the French occupation of the Ruhr. The November 1923 general election saw the CPGB putting forward 9 of its members as candidates, including Shapurji Saklatvala in Battersea North, where he was unanimously adopted as the nominee of the Battersea Labour Party.Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' p. 242. Although not all the Communist candidates were endorsed by the Labour Party, they all were the recipients of support from local Labour activists. Despite modest gains for Labour in the election overall, the results of the election returned the Conservatives as the largest party in the House of Commons (although their number of seats fell from 346 to 259).Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' p. 243. All Communist candidates were defeated in the 1923 election, however, including Saklatvala in Battersea North. The 1924 general election came in the wake of the so-called Zinoviev letter and saw the Conservatives increase their vote by more than 2 million to win the election.Klugmann, ''History of the Communist Party of Great Britain: Volume 1,'' p. 356. The Labour Party saw a net loss of 42 seats despite contesting more constituencies than ever before. In Battersea North, Saklatvala ran without formal Labour Party endorsement for the first time, but still managed to win election by a slim margin of 544 votes, the only one of 8 CPGB candidates elected. Saklatvala was arrested 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 ...

following a speech he made in support of striking coal miners and was jailed for two months on charge of sedition. He was active in the League Against Imperialism from the time of its formation in 1927. Saklatvala's parliamentary career was effectively ended when he lost his seat in the 1929 general election. He ran again in 1930 in a by-election in Glasgow Shettleston without success, and mounted a final losing campaign in the 1931 general election in Battersea. In 1934 he visited the Soviet Union to tour the Union's Far Eastern republics, whose governance he compared favourably to that in British India. During that tour he suffered a heart attack but recovered. During the 1935 general election Saklatvala was active in the electoral campaigns of Harry Pollitt and Willie Gallacher.

Personal life

On 14 August 1907 Saklatvala married an English woman, Sarah Elizabeth Marsh (born 1888). She was working as a hotel waitress when he met her while staying at Matlock, Derbyshire. The couple had three sons; Dorab, Beram, and Kaikhoshro (also called Kaiko) and two daughters; Dhunbar and Jevanbai (also known as Candida or Candy and Sehri). He was once censured by the non-religious CPGB for holding a Zoroastrian navjote initiation ceremony for his children at

Caxton Hall Caxton Hall is a building on the corner of Caxton Street and Palmer Street, in Westminster, London, England. It is a Grade II listed building primarily noted for its historical associations. It hosted many mainstream and fringe political and art ...

, Westminster, which he defended on the grounds it was to ensure benefit from a Tata family trust fund. His son Kaikhoshro served with the British Air Transport Auxiliary organisation in World War II as a pilot (Second Officer)."Indian/Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Pilots in ATA (from Brief Glory)"
RAF Commands. He flew most frontline aircraft, including Mosquitos, Spitfires and Lancasters.

Death and legacy

Shapurji Saklatvala died, from another heart attack, on 16 January 1936 at his London home, 2 St Albans Villas, St Albans Road. He was 61 years old at the time of his death and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium."Shapurji Saklatvala"
at Find a Grave. His remains were later buried on 21 January in the tomb of his mother at the Parsi burial ground in Brookwood Cemetery,

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...

.The ''ODNB'' does not mention the cremation. In January 1937, British, Irish and Dominion volunteers in the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

were formed into an English-speaking battalion, that was formally named after Saklatvala. However, the name never caught on, and it was normally known as the " British Battalion". The Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist–Leninist)'s hall is named after Shapurji Saklatvala. Saklatvala Hall is located in Southall, London. The hall is used for CPGB-ML's meetings and celebrations.

Footnotes

Works

* ''The Empire Labour.'' 1919. * ''For British Trade Unionists and British Indian Labour: Two Articles on British Capital and Indian Labour.'' Manchester: National Labour Press, n.d. 920 * ''India in the Labour World.'' London: Labour Publishing Co. for the Workers' Welfare League of India, n.d. . 1921 * ''Saklatwala on India.'' Lahore: G.L. Puri, 1923. * ''The Class Struggle in Parliament: On Communism, Egyptian Indemnity, the Supplementary Reserve, the Prince's Tour, the Air Force.'' London: S. Saklatvala, n.d. . 1925 * ''British Imperialism in India: Speech Delivered in the House of Commons, 9 July 1925.'' Chicago: Daily Worker Publishing Co., n.d.

925 Year 925 ( CMXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 15 – Nicholas I Mystikos, twice the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantin ...

* ''Is India Different? The Class Struggle in India: Correspondence on the Indian Labour Movement and Modern Conditions.'' With Mahatma Gandhi. London: Communist Party of Great Britain, 1927. * ''Socialism and "Labouralism": A Speech in the House of Commons.'' London: Communist Party of Great Britain, 1928. * '' With the Communist Party in Parliament: Exposure of Parliamentary Hypocrisy: Saklatvala's Great Speech on King's Address, 7 November 1928.'' London: Communist Party of Great Britain, n.d. . 1928

External links

Asians in British politics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saklatvala, Shapurji 1874 births 1936 deaths British politicians of Indian descent Politicians from Mumbai British communists British people of Parsi descent British Zoroastrians Burials at Brookwood Cemetery Communist Party of Great Britain members Communist Party of Great Britain MPs English people of Parsi descent English people of Indian descent Indian communists British India emigrants to the United Kingdom Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Parsi people from Mumbai UK MPs 1924–1929 Parsi people