David Widgery (27 April 1947 – 26 October 1992) was a British Marxist writer, journalist, polemicist, physician, and activist.

Biography

Widgery was born in Barnet and grew up in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He contracted

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

as a child and was expelled from sixth form for publishing a magazine. In 1965, Widgery met

Allen Ginsberg Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with Lucien Carr, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of th ...

, then visited

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, where he encountered the civil rights movement, followed by

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. On return to

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, he studied medicine at the

Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Ho ...

Medical School before writing for the ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'' and '' Oz'' magazines, becoming co-editor of ''Oz'' during 1971. Widgery joined the International Socialists in 1967, remaining in the group when it became the Socialist Workers Party in 1977. He began working at Bethnal Green Hospital in 1972, worked at St Leonard's Hospital in the late 1970s and later in the decade he published his first book, ''The Left in Britain, 1956–68''. Widgery contributed to ''Ink'', '' Time Out'' and ''

City Limits City limits or city boundaries refer to the defined boundary (real estate), boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limit can be called the city proper. Town limit/boundary and village limit/boundary apply to towns and villages. ...

'', also writing for the ''New Statesman'', '' Socialist Review'', ''

International Socialism ''International Socialism'' is a British-based quarterly journal established in 1960 and published in London by the Socialist Workers Party which discusses socialist theory. It is currently edited by Joseph Choonara who replaced Alex Callini ...

'' and ''

New Society ''New Society'' was a weekly magazine of social inquiry and social and cultural comment, published in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1988. It drew on the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, social history and s ...

''. He also presented a paper at the ninth symposium of the National Deviancy Conference in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

(7–8 January 1972) on "The Politics of the Underground". His books include ''The Chatto Book of Dissent'' (1991), an anthology of dissident writings co-edited with Michael Rosen, ''Some Lives!: A GP's East End'' (1991), the story of his experience as a doctor in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's East End, ''The National Health: A Radical Perspective'', and ''Beating Time'' (1986), an account of the Rock Against Racism movement of the late 1970s. When Widgery died, aged 45, excess alcohol, barbiturates and pethidine were found in his bloodstream, but it is not known whether this was an accidental or intentional overdose. One obituary described Widgery as "a radical

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

intellectual on permanent loan to revolutionary

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Publications

* Widgery, D. (1976), ''The Left in Britain, 1956-68'' (Peregrine Books) * Widgery, D. (ed) (1980), ''The Book of the Year: September 1979 to September 1980'' (Inklinks) * Widgery, D., ''The National Health: A Radical Perspective'' * Widgery, D. (1986), ''Beating Time'' * Widgery, D. (1989), ''Preserving Disorder (Essays on Society & Culture)'' (

Pluto Press Pluto Press is a British independent book publisher based in London, founded in 1969. Pluto Press states that it publishes "radical, left‐wing non‐fiction books", and is anti-capitalist and internationalist. It belongs to The Internat ...

) * Widgery, D. and Rosen, M. (eds) (1991), ''The Chatto Book of Dissent'' (Chatto) * Widgery, D. and Shelton, S. (1991), ''Some Lives!: A GP's East End'', London: Sinclair Stevenson. * Widgery, D. (1991), ''Marketa Luskacova: Photographs of Spitalfields'' (

Whitechapel Art Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fir ...

)

References

External links

Catalogue of Widgery's papers
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Widgery, David 1947 births 1992 deaths British anti-racism activists British communists British humanists British male journalists British Marxists 20th-century English medical doctors British socialists British Trotskyists Drug-related deaths in England Barbiturates-related deaths British male non-fiction writers Marxist journalists British Marxist writers People from Chipping Barnet People from Maidenhead Socialist Workers Party (UK) members British writers with disabilities Writers from the London Borough of Barnet