Isabel Brown (6 December 1894 – 22 October 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

. Born in

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

, Brown obtained a scholarship to attend the Sunderland Teacher Training College. Initially highly religious, she changed her views as a result of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and through attending

National Council of Labour Colleges The National Council of Labour Colleges (NCLC) was an organisation set up in the United Kingdom to foster independent working class education. The organisation was founded at a convention held in the Clarion Club House, Yardley, Birmingham on 8/9 ...

lectures led by T. A. Jackson. She became active in the

National Union of Teachers The National Union of Teachers (NUT; ) was a trade union for school teachers in Education in England, England, Education in Wales, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It was a member of the Trades Union Congress. In March 2017, NU ...

and joined the Labour Party in 1918.Graham Stevenson,
Brown Isabel
, ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' In 1921, Isabel married Ernest Brown, a local communist, and she became a founder member of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

(CPGB), one of only five women delegates to attend its founding congress. She lost her teaching post the following year, when she became pregnant, and moved with Ernest to Moscow in 1924, returning just before the

UK general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

. During the strike, Brown was jailed for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

, and was again imprisoned soon after her release, while she was speaking in support of miners who were still striking. In the late 1920s, Brown organised women's sections of the

National Unemployed Workers' Movement The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed at drawing attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the post-First World War slump, the 1 ...

. Ernest became the CPGB's Scottish organiser, and she moved with him, becoming women's editor of ''The Mineworker''.Neil C. Rafeek, ''Communist Women in Scotland'', p.35 She stood unsuccessfully in

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

at the 1929 general election, and then in the Kilmarnock by-election, later in the year. In 1930, Brown studied at the

Lenin School The International Lenin School (ILS) () was an official training school operated in Moscow, Soviet Union, by the Communist International from May 1926 to 1938. It was resumed after the World War II, Second World War and run by the Communist Party ...

, then led the British Committee for the Relief of Victims of Fascism and was prominent in the Aid for Spain committee. She was particularly well known for her speeches, which were moving and held audiences' attention, and for her ability to answer questions from the public. Brown became extremely active in the British Aid for Spain movement, playing a central role in the cross-party National Joint Committee for Spanish Relief. This included helping out with efforts to house the Basque refugees who came to Britain in 1937. Late in 1930s, Brown became the national women's organiser for the CPGB, and she stood in the 1940 Bow and Bromley by-election, taking only 4.2% of the vote even though she faced only one opponent. Injured in an air raid later in the year, she never fully recovered, standing down as a women's officer in 1942, and from the Central Committee in 1947.''Labour History Review'', vols.68-69, p.118 She stood in her final election at

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

at the 1950 general election, again failing to come near winning the seat. Despite increasingly poor health, Brown continued to speak on behalf of the CPGB, teach and attend conferences until her death in 1984.

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Isabel 1894 births 1984 deaths Alumni of the University of Sunderland Communist Party of Great Britain members Schoolteachers from Tyne and Wear English trade unionists International Lenin School alumni English women trade unionists