HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Felix Greene (21 May 1909 – 15 June 1985) was a British journalist who chronicled several
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
countries in the 1960s and 1970s. Greene stood as a National Labour candidate in the 1931 election while still a law student. Greene was defeated in South East Essex by a Conservative candidate who refused to stand aside for National Labour, despite the two parties being allies in Ramsay MacDonald's National Government. He did, however, achieve a higher poll than any of the National Labour candidates opposed by Conservatives. He was one of the first Western reporters to visit
North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...
when he travelled there for the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' in the 1960s. He first visited China for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in 1957. Greene later produced
documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...
s, including ''One Man's China,'' ''Tibet,'' ''Cuba va!,'' ''Vietnam! Vietnam!'' and ''Inside North Viet Nam''. Right-wing critics have accused these films of presenting a one-sided view of communist society. ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' argued that Greene purposely hid negative information about the extent of starvation in China and called him a "
fellow traveller A fellow traveller (also fellow traveler) is a person who is intellectually sympathetic to the ideology of a political organization, and who co-operates in the organization's politics, without being a formal member. In the early history of the Sov ...
." Commander R. W. Herrick of the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
reviewed ''A Curtain of Ignorance'' in ''
Naval War College Review The ''Naval War College Review'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the United States Navy's Naval War College. It covers public policy matters of interest to the maritime services and was established in 1948. History Dur ...
'', writing, "There can be no question but that reeneset out deliberately to 'prove' his contentions that practically everything having to do with Communist China and its policies is good, while Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist regimes are unmitigatedly bad. ... Yet, once the reader understands and allows for this bias, this book is eminently worth reading." Herrick agreed with Greene's observation that "... on matters where great national feelings are aroused, scholars and experts are just as likely as the rest of us to allow their judgments to be swayed by the prevailing climate of opinion." He found the chapters on Nationalist China and the
China Lobby In American politics, the China lobby (Chinese: 中國遊說團) consisted of advocacy groups calling for American support for the Republic of China during the period from the 1930s until US recognition of the People's Republic of China in 1979 ...
to be provocative reading. In the 1970s, Greene went to
Dharamsala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibetan ...
to visit the
14th Dalai Lama The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
, who recalled that after three days of discussion, Greene's attitude had changed. Greene lived in the
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
area for 20 years and died in
Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
of cancer. He was a cousin of the author
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...
.


Books

* ''Awakened China: The Country Americans Don't Know''. Garden City, New York, 1961. * ''The Enemy: What Every American Should Know About Imperialism''. New York: Vintage Books, 1971. * ''VIETNAM! VIETNAM! In Photographs and text.'' 1966, Palo Alto, California: Fulton Publishing Company, LCCN: 66-28359 * ''A Curtain of Ignorance'', London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. Details of how Communist China was reported in the US in the 1960s. * ''The Wall Has Two Sides. A Portrait Of China Today'', The Reprint Society, 1963. Greene's films and photos are distributed by
Contemporary Films Contemporary Films is an independent film distribution company based in the UK, with the highest production of films and movies per year. It was founded by Charles Cooper (1910–2001) in 1951. It has brought several films from around the world ...
.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greene, Felix 1909 births 1985 deaths English male journalists San Francisco Chronicle people Place of birth missing Deaths from cancer in Mexico