Sam Aarons
Samuel Aarons | |
|---|---|
 A photograph of Sam Aarons in 1939 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 21 October 1895 Prahran, Victoria, Australia |
| Died | 10 January 1971 (aged 75) Perth, WA, Australia |
| Cause of death | Heart Attack |
| Political party | Communist Party of Australia |
| Children | 3 |
| Occupation | |
Samuel Aarons (21 October 1895 – 10 January 1971)[1] was an Australian radical activist and communist.
Early life[edit]
He was born in Prahran, Melbourne on the 21st of October 1895, to Louis and Jane Aarons (nee Hyam),[2] who passed on their radical politics to their son.
Biography[edit]
Sam joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of sixteen and was an anti-war campaigner during World War I. 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. Although his parents were founding members of the Communist Party of Australia (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 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 on the republican side,[3] 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.[4] He remained active in communist affairs, but stood as an independent in the 1941 New South Wales state election 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.[5] He retired in 1968.[6] Aarons had three sons: two, Laurie and Eric, by his first wife, and a third, Gerald, by his second wife, Annette Moore.
References[edit]
- ^ "SAM AARONS: Over 50 years a revolutionary". Tribune. 13 January 1971. p. 8. Retrieved 4 May 2022 – via Trove.
- ^ '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.
- ^ "Sam Aarons in Spain". The Workers' Weekly. No. 803. Sydney. 1 June 1937. p. 4. Retrieved 13 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Sam Aarons Returns!". The Worker's Weekly. No. 937. Sydney. 20 September 1938. p. 3. Retrieved 13 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Sam Aarons". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2013.
- ^ "Dinner for Sam Aarons". Tribune. No. 1561. Sydney. 5 June 1968. p. 12. Retrieved 13 May 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
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