Dorothy Woodman (1902 – September 1970) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

socialist activist, communist and journalist.

Biography

Woodman was born in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

,"Obituary: Dorothy Woodman", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 1 October 1970 into a family known for its nonconformist religious beliefs and liberal politics.Ed. Iain Dale, ''The Times House of Commons: 1929, 1931, 1935'', p.64 She was interested in Asia from an early age, and learned

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

from a local poet."Obituary: Miss Dorothy Woodman: socialist who championed international causes", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 2 October 1970 She studied at

University College, Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

, where she became a socialist. She worked for a short while as a schoolteacher, but soon left to become the secretary of the Women's International League. In 1928, she moved to become secretary of the

Union of Democratic Control The Union of Democratic Control was a British advocacy group, pressure group formed in 1914 to press for a more responsive foreign policy. While not a pacifism, pacifist organisation, it was opposed to military influence in government. World Wa ...

. Additionally, she was active in the Labour Party, for which she stood unsuccessfully in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

at the 1931 general election, and

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms ...

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

. In 1933, Woodman was working as a journalist in Berlin, and covered the

Reichstag fire The Reichstag fire (, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday, 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of Germany. Marinus van der Lubbe, ...

. Woodman falsely claimed to be in a relationship with the defendant

Georgi Dimitrov Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; ) also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian communist politician who served as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party from 1933 t ...

in order to gain access to him, and was then able to transfer messages between him and his friends, and co-ordinate his defence. Dimitrov subsequently praised Woodman as largely responsible for his acquittal. She also reported from the meeting of British fascists at Olympia. Woodman met

Kingsley Martin Basil Kingsley Martin (28 July 1897 – 16 February 1969) usually known as Kingsley Martin, was a British journalist who edited the left-leaning political magazine the ''New Statesman'' from 1930 to 1960. Early life He was the son of (Dav ...

in about 1935, while the two were living in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, and the two remained in an open relationship until Martin' death.John Forrester and Laura Cameron, ''Freud in Cambridge'', p.157 Woodman remained secretary of the Union of Democratic Control for many years, focusing on providing a voice to nationalist activists, particularly those from British colonies in Asia. In this role, she was closely watched by the

Special Intelligence Service The Special Intelligence Service was a covert counterintelligence branch of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) located in South America during World War II. It was established to monitor the activities of Nazi and pro-Nazi g ...

, who believed she might be a Soviet agent. She worked closely with

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He played a significant role in the ...

when he was a student in London, and with

Krishna Menon Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon (3 May 1896 – 6 October 1974) was an Indian academic, independence activist, politician, lawyer, and statesman. During his time, Menon contributed to the Indian independence movement and India's foreign r ...

and his India League, and also organised the China Campaign Committee. She also worked as Asia correspondent 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 in 1962, wrote ''The Making of Burma'', a book opposing colonialism. Woodman died in 1970, with those paying tribute including

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

. In her will, she left money to support an annual Kingsley Martin Memorial Lecture at the University of Cambridge. Woodman was a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. In 1966,

Louis Fischer Louis Fischer (29 February 1896 – 15 January 1970) was an American journalist. Among his works were a contribution to the ex-communist treatise '' The God that Failed'' (1949), '' The Life of Mahatma Gandhi'' (1950), basis for the Academy ...

described Woodman as a "Parliamentary Labor candidate, vegetarian, pacifist, and dynamic revolutionist."Fischer, Louis. (1966). ''Men and Politics: Europe Between the Two World Wars''. Harper & Row. p. 319

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woodman, Dorothy 1902 births 1970 deaths Anti-imperialism in Europe British pacifists Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People from Swindon 20th-century British journalists Alumni of the University of Exeter