Eric Austen (3 November 1922 – 1 July 1999) was an English designer and teacher, and played a part in the creation of the well-known ND symbol, as used, among others, by the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

(CND). ''Includes comments added by his daughter''

Early life

He grew up in the Norfolk village of

Hethersett Hethersett is a large village and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in the county of Norfolk, England, about south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 5,441 in 2,321 households at ...

, and described his childhood in his 1996 book ''All that I was : a village childhood in the thirties'' (Mousehold Press: ), which has a foreword by

Richard Hoggart Herbert Richard Hoggart (24 September 1918 – 10 April 2014) was an English academic whose career covered the fields of sociology, English literature and cultural studies, with emphasis on British popular culture. Early life Hoggart was bor ...

. He attended Hethersett British School and then

City of Norwich School The City of Norwich School, more commonly known as CNS, is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status in Norwich, England. History In 1910, the Education Committee decided to merge the King Edward VI Middle School in ...

, a grammar school to which he won a scholarship.

Work

During the Second World War Austen, who was a pacifist, was exempted from

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer military, volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Few nations, such ...

as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of conscience or religion. The term has also been extended to objecting to working for the military–indu ...

, and worked for the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

. After the war he taught in primary school, then studied at the University of London, Institute of Education while teaching at Southlands College (1964–1972). He taught at

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

from 1972, specialising in art education, and was promoted to senior lecturer. He held a 1981 exhibition of 40 giant "Life Books" which held more than 2000 quotations from the world's literature and philosophy. This exhibition was revived in 1990 at

Friends House Friends House is a multi-use building at 173 Euston Road in London, England. The building houses the central offices of British Quakers and a conference centre. The building is also the principal venue for North West London Meeting and the Bri ...

in London.

Accomplishment

The CND acknowledges Austen as the maker of the first ND badges, but attributes the design of the symbol to

Gerald Holtom Gerald Herbert Holtom (20 January 1914 – 18 September 1985Westcott, Kathryn (20 March 2008"World's best-known protest symbol turns 50"'' BBC.co.uk (News)'' (Retrieved: 21 February 2010)) was an English artist and designer. A graduate of the ...

. These earliest badges were made in ceramic (fireclay) – which Austen noted would mean they could be among the very few man-made objects to survive a nuclear inferno. Austen is quoted as saying of the design: "the gesture of despair had long been associated with the death of Man and the circle with the unborn child."

Personal life

Austen was married three times; to Nina Carmela, Audrey Whiting and Kate Taylor. When he died of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

on 1 July 1999, he left a daughter Gea (by Audrey Whiting) and two grandsons. In 2017, Austen's daughter Gea launched online petitions at

change.org Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...

and

38 Degrees 38 Degrees is a British not-for-profit political-activism organisation. It describes itself as " progressive" and claims to "campaign for fairness, defend rights, promote peace, preserve the planet and deepen democracy in the UK". 38 Degrees t ...

, addressed to the CND,

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

(leader of the Labour Party) and

Kate Hudson Kate Garry Hudson (born April 19, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Born to singer Bill Hudson (singer), Bill Hudson and actress Goldie Hawn, Hudson made her film debut in the 1998 drama ''Desert Blue'', which was followed by supporting ...

(General secretary of CND), asking that her father should be recognised as having designed the CND symbol. Retrieved 6 March 2017 https://www.change.org/p/c-n-d-jeremy-corbyn-mp-kate-hudson-eric-austen-designed-and-made-the-cnd-sign ''(Wikipedia does not allow a direct link to be made to change.org)''

References

External links

Photo of Austen with his daughter and second wifePhoto of Austen's original 1958 ceramic CND badge
Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Academics of the University of Roehampton English designers English conscientious objectors 1922 births 1999 deaths Deaths from leukemia in England {{UK-artist-stub