obituaries

On, February 1st, I got a call from Ruth Benn that Ralph DiGia, 93, had died at St. Vincent's in New York City. I had visited him recently and sensed he was losing his battle - he had fallen and broken a hip about two weeks before, got an infection in the hospital (hospitals in the US are notoriously dangerous places for the sick and .wounded to go!), and despite rallying several times, died.

Ba Jin:Chinese writer who made the journey from anarchism to Mao and back again

It can’t be often, unfortunately, that the bishop of a major country’s capital city having visited an elderly priest, feared to be dying, and then phones a past archbishop’s former chaplain, a sometime mentor of the present archbishop, to say ‘he spoke of the kingdom of God and proclaimed his undying belief in Anarchy’.

John Taylor Caldwell 1911-2007

The Wee Man is Dead!

Robert Lynn has snuffed it. In the heart of Glasgow - the Calton - hundreds of people are genuinely mourning the loss of one of its best loved sons.

By Stuart Christie
From the Guardian, Wednesday August 16, 2000

- Goliardo's biography by Antonio Tellez on libcom.org/history

Pete Turner was a South Londoner, who served an apprenticeship as a carpenter, toiled in the building industry for the whole of his working life and died from asbestosis during his retirement. He was a truly sweet man and it was typical, and fitting, that he should have attended Arthur's cremation even though he was wheelchair-bound and breathing via an oxygen cylinder.

An obituary of George Woodcock, Canadian anarchist and writer.

Obituary for Texan anarchist Ross Winn written by Emma Goldman.

Murray Bookchin died at home on the 30th of July at the age of 85, surrounded by his family. From the 1960s onwards, Bookchin was, rightly, considered one of the world’s leading anarchist thinkers. His death, while not unexpected, is still a sad day for our movement.

Most socialist and anarchist comment has missed the most relevant point about the life and death of Diana, even in Freedom (20th September 1997). This is that Diana was the most spectacular example of the 'spectacular society' since the concept was launched.

Obituary of Russian-American anarchist historian Paul Avrich by Stuart Christie from The Guardian, Monday April 10, 2006

More than that the study of history has also lost one of its finest proponents because Avrich was also a great historian. If his work brought to life those who shared "the beautiful ideal" it was because he used his considerable talents to treat his subjects with respect, thus avoiding the glib condescension that characterized much of what constituted "anarchist history" in the academy.

Durruti Is Dead, Yet Living By Emma Goldman

[Published in 1936. Obtained from the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace, Stanford, California.]

Durruti, whom I saw but a month ago, lost his life in the street-battles of Madrid. My previous knowledge of this stormy petrel of the Anarchist and revolutionary movement in Spain was merely from reading about him. On my arrival in Barcelona I learned many fascinating stories of Durruti and his column. They made me eager to go to the Aragon front, where he was the leading spirit of the brave and valiant militias, fighting against fascism.

Leaving out those great ones who have cut their niches in history, (the history of this country is rich in fore-runners of Anarchism) such as Godwin Shelley, and Owen, I propose to place on record some of the lesser known pioneers of the Anarchist movement. Of those of a proletarian origin, Dan Chatterton stands out as one who attracted most attention.