Jump to content

Jack Robinson (anarchist)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jack Robinson
Born1913 (1913)
Birmingham, England
Died20 March 1983(1983-03-20) (aged 69–70)
Occupations
  • Nurse
  • Newspaper editor
MovementAnarchist
PartnerMary Canipa

Jack Robinson (1913 – 20 March 1983) was an English anarchist activist and editor of the paper Freedom.

Biography

[edit]

Robinson was born in 1913 in Birmingham.[1][2][Note 1]

A conscientious objector, during the World War II he worked in an epileptic colony because he was a nurse by training. He also took part in a medical experiment living on a diet which caused scurvy, but in fact he earned a good part of his living as a book trader.[2] And his purchase of the tenancy linked to Albert Meltzer’s Wooden Shoe Press was the premise of the long dispute between Meltzer and Vernon Richards.[3]

He worked alongside Lilian Wolfe and Mary Canipa in the Freedom Bookshop. Robinson contributed articles to Freedom and Anarchy, sometimes anonymously, during the 1970s. He also contributed under the name Jon Quixote.[4] Though he is thought to have had a hand in editorial group through the 60's.[5] At the request of Canipa his work was reproduced in Freedom: A Hundred Years put together by Donald Rooum, because by its publication date he had already died.

Robinson enjoyed active stints, alongside Rooum in the Colne and Nelson Anarchist Group and was a noted non-smoker, a teetotaler and a vegetarian.[6][2] Robinson died 20 March 1983, following a stroke two months earlier.[2]

Publications

[edit]
  • Rooum, D (Ed.) "Freedom": A Hundred Years, October 1886-October 1986 London, Freedom Press, 1986 ISBN 0-900384-35-2
  • Rooum, D (Ed.) What Is Anarchism?: An Introduction, London, Freedom Press, ISBN 0-900384-66-2

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Rob Ray (2018) states that Robinson was born in 1921.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Robinson, Jack (January 1963). "A Man's Ambition Must Be Small..." (PDF). Anarchy. No. 23. London. p. 25.
  2. ^ a b c d Sansom, Philip (26 March 1983). "Jack Robinson" (PDF). Freedom. Vol. 44, no. 6. London. p. 5.
  3. ^ Rooum, Donald (2008). "Freedom, Freedom Press and Freedom Bookshop A short history of Freedom Press" (PDF). Website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  4. ^ Ray, Rob (2018). A Beautiful Idea: History of the Freedom Press Anarchists. London: Freedom Press. p. 235. ISBN 978-1-904491-30-9. OCLC 1052463857.
  5. ^ Rai, Milan (26 February 2010). "John Rety: "The Point Is This"". Freedom Press. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  6. ^ ""The Noble Experiment": A socialist-anarchist fable about the prohibition of smoking". Website / Text. Spunk.org. Retrieved 27 May 2013.