Vic Allen (1923–2014) was a British communist, human rights activist, political prisoner, sociologist, historian, economist and

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

who worked closely with British trade unions, and was considered a key player in the resistance against

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

n. He was also known for being a key activist within the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), and for spending his life supporting the South African National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). Allen was the mentor of British trade union leader

Arthur Scargill Arthur Scargill (born 11 January 1938) is a British trade unionist who was President of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) from 1982 to 2002. He is best known for leading the UK miners' strike (1984–85), a major event in the history of ...

, and also a brief acquaintance of Nelson Mandela. During attempts to establish trade unions in Nigeria, he was accused of conspiring to overthrow the Nigerian government and spent 6 months in jail. He was also involved in a successful mission to smuggle £100,000 into

Apartheid South Africa Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

to fund trade unions, and in 1988 was present at secret talks in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

between Fidel Castro and black South African union leaders. In 2010 Allen was awarded the Kgao ya Bahale award, the highest honour awarded by the South African NUM. After his death he was widely commendated by his fellow academics and activists for his lifelong commitment to worker's rights and racial equality.

Early life

Son of Jane (née Fletcher) and Len Allen, Vic Allen was born and raised in

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name had ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

. Vic Allen left school at fourteen with no qualifications and became an apprentice bricklayer. During his time as a bricklayer, he was lent books by a fellow construction worker which inspired him to pursue an education at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

where he was taught by

Harold Laski Harold Joseph Laski (30 June 1893 – 24 March 1950) was an English political theorist and economist. He was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of ...

. He worked as a bricklayer before and after service in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

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 opposing ...

. During this time, he became an accomplished amateur boxer competing at a national level. Allen originally took up boxing in response to being bullied at school. While working as a bricklayer, he began to be educated in

Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...

and socialism by fellow workers. He became more politicised after being sacked from a site for joining a trade union.

Political activities

While working for the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, Vic Allen was sent to

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

to study trade union organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa. During his time in Nigeria he attempted to help activists establish trade unions in the country, only for Allen to be arrested and charged with conspiring to overthrow the Nigerian government. After 6 months in prison, he was released after being made an "Amnesty prisoner of conscience". Allen was the official historian of the British National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), a confidant of

, Ken Gill and Mick McGahey and an adviser to British trade unionists for over 40 years. He also aided trade unionists and campaigners in the fight against apartheid in South Africa from the 1960s onwards and, after the fall of the regime, wrote a three-volume history of mineworkers in South Africa on behalf of the South African National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).Notice of death of Vic Allen
allafrica.com; accessed 31 October 2014. He was a member of the national committee of the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nuc ...

(CND) for many years, and in 1985 he came last in a ballot to choose the chair of the organisation running on a pro-Soviet, unilateral disarmament ticket. In support of NUM, Allen was involved in a mission to smuggle £100,000 into South Africa to fund trade unions in the country. Through his connections with NUM, in 1988 Allen was present in Cuba at secret talks between union activists and Fidel Castro. Also present at the talks were leading anti-apartheid activists

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician who is currently serving as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa. Formerly an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader, and ...

and James Motlatsi. In the early 1990s a close friend of Allen, Ramaphosa (who went on to become President of South Africa in 2018), took him on a trip to

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

airport. To Allen's surprise, Nelson Mandela was present in the back seat of their car. Mandela and Allen shared a long car ride discussion of world politics and the two activists bonded over their shared love of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

. From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, Allen was a member of the management committee that owns the Morning Star. He was revealed in September 1999 to have been an "agent of influence" for the

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Stasi secret police, from material contained in the

Mitrokhin Archive The "Mitrokhin Archive" is a collection of handwritten notes which were secretly made by the KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin during the thirty years in which he served as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Dir ...

, possessing the code name "Barber".Peter Schweizer, ''Reagan's war: the epic story of his forty-year struggle and final triumph over communism'', Doubleday, 2002; , p. 222 Stefan Berger, Norman Laporte, ''The other Germany: perceptions and influences in British-East German relations, 1945-1990'', Wissner, 2005; , pp. 86–87Paul Lashmar, et a
"Scargill's ally was Stasi agent"
''Independent on Sunday'', 19 September 1999. Allen admitted "pass ngon information about CND's activities ... utconsidered that perfectly legitimate because he belonged to a pro-Soviet, pro-East German faction of the group." Allen defended his actions citing that none of the information he had discussed was secret."I regret nothing, says Stasi spy"
BBC News, 20 September 1999

Honours and awards

In 2010, Allen was awarded the Kgao ya Bahale award, the highest honour awarded by the South African NUM. The award ceremony was held by a delegation of NUM leaders, including then President Senzeni Zokwana, General Secretary Frans Baleni, former President James Motlatsi and former General Secretary

. Also present at the awards ceremony were many South African activists who praised Allen as a 'true internationalist'.

Academic career

Allen went up to the

in 1946 and gained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1949 followed by a PhD. His PhD

thesis A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

was published in 1954 as "Power in Trade Unions". Allen was appointed a Lecturer in Industrial Relations in the School of Economic Studies at the

in 1959, becoming a

Senior Lecturer Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...

in 1963,

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in 1970 and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of the Sociology of Industrial Society in 1973. He retired from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

in 1988 with the title

. Allen wrote and published three volumes of the history of the National Union of Miners (NUM) in South Africa, described by academics as "one of the strongest and most insightful produced to date". These three volumes took Allen 10 years to create.

Death and legacy

Allen died on 26 October 2014, aged 91. His funeral was held at a rural inn called the Craven Heifer, close to

Skipton Skipton (also known as Skipton-in-Craven) is a market town and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically in the East Division of Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the River Ai ...

in the

Yorkshire Dales The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of the Pennines in the historic county of Yorkshire, England, most of it in the Yorkshire Dales National Park created in 1954. The Dales comprise river valleys and the hills rising from the Vale of York w ...

.Obituary – University of Leeds
/ref> Vic Allen was married three times during his life, and fathered six children, and had 9 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren by the time he died. After Allen's death, Baleni created a tribute dedicated to Allen. A delegation of the NUM was present at Allen's funeral. Baleni said of Allen:

"Back then black South African mineworkers had no names. We had company numbers. We were just a tool. Vic made it possible for us to train in the UK. We were taken to Trafalgar Square where anti-apartheid activists were camping day and night. That made me fully understand the meaning of empathy. Vic taught us to make sure we appreciated each other, never to leave anything to chance."

, whom Allen had mentored before Scargill became the president of the NUM, described Allen as "an intellectual giant, a writer without peer."

Books

* ''Power in Trade Unions'', Longmans, 1954 * ''The Sociology of Industrial Relations'', Longmans, 1971. * ''Social Analysis: A Marxist Critique and Alternative.'' Longmans, 1975 * ''The Militancy of British Miners'', Moor Press, 1981. *
The Russians are Coming: The Politics of Anti-Sovietism
', Moor Press, 1987. * ''The History of Black Mineworkers in South Africa'' Volume 1, Moor Press, 1992. * ''Apartheid Repression and Dissent in the Mines. The History of Black Mineworkers in South Africa, 1948-1982'', Merlin Press and Moor Press, 2003. * ''Organise or Die. The History of Black Mineworkers in South Africa, 1982-1994'', Merlin Press and Moor Press, 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Vic 1923 births 2014 deaths Academics of the University of Leeds British communists Royal Air Force personnel of World War II British spies 20th-century Welsh historians People of the Stasi Prisoners and detainees of Nigeria