Kenneth Joseph Kenafick (11 April 1904 – 26 January 1982), also known by the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s James Kennedy and Leo Conon, was an Australian poet, writer, translator and anti-

conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...

campaigner. He was the secretary of the No Conscription Campaign and the organisation's successor, League for Freedom. He was the editor of the ''Anti-Militarist News and Review'' journal.

Early life and education

Kenafick was born in 1904 at Norseman in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

(graduating in 1932), and studied at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

and Melbourne Teachers' College.

Career

After his education, Kenafick worked as a teacher in high schools throughout

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. Three volumes of his poetry, written under the pseudonym James Kennedy, were published by Thomas Lothian from 1935 to 1939. In 1957, he published an autobiography under the

Leo Conon. He was a member of the Victorian Teachers' Union and the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...

, although he broke away from the party in support of

Maurice Blackburn Maurice McCrae Blackburn (19 November 1880 – 31 March 1944) was an Australian politician and socialist lawyer, noted for his protection of the interests of workers and the establishment of the legal firm known as Maurice Blackburn Lawyers. ...

in 1942, becoming secretary of the ''No Conscription Campaign'' from 1943 to 1946. He was known for his

anarcho-socialism Libertarian socialism is an anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist political current that emphasises self-governance and workers' self-management. It is contrasted from other forms of socialism by its rejection of state ownership and from other ...

and as a pacifist. His 1948 work, ''Michael Bakunin and Karl Marx,'' is considered a good account of the Marx/Bakunin debate. He was Secretary of the '' No Conscription Campaign'' and the organization's successor, the ''League for Freedom'', for many years. After the organisation was renamed the ''League for Freedom and World Friendship,'' Kenafick became the editor of the journal it published in Melbourne: ''Anti-Militarist News and Review.'' In 1950, he edited and translated an anthology of

Mikhail Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin. Sometimes anglicized to Michael Bakunin. ( ; – 1 July 1876) was a Russian revolutionary anarchist. He is among the most influential figures of anarchism and a major figure in the revolutionary socialist, s ...

's work entitled ''Marxism, Freedom and the State,'' published by

Freedom Press Freedom Press is an anarchist publishing house and Radical bookshops in the United Kingdom, bookseller in Whitechapel, London, United Kingdom, founded in 1886. Alongside its many books and pamphlets, the group also runs a news and comment-based ...

in London, UK, which is widely cited.Hodges, Donald Clark. “The Rise and Fall of Militant Trade Unionism.” ''

The American Journal of Economics and Sociology ''The American Journal of Economics and Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal established in 1941 by Will Lissner with support from the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation. The purpose of the journal was to create a forum for continuing disc ...

'', vol. 20, no. 5, 1961, pp. 483–96. ''JSTOR'', . Accessed 9 Mar. 2023.

Personal life and death

Kenafick retired in 1968 and moved with his wife to Myrla near Wunkar in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. He died in Loxton in 1982.

Selected publications

*'' Marxism, Freedom and the State, 1950s translation'' *''Poems Lyrical and Descriptive'', James Kennedy, Melbourne: Speciality Press, 1936 ''selected work poetry'' *''Psyche and Eros, Romeo and Juliet, Two Poems'' James Kennedy, London: Arthur Barron, 1935 ''selected work poetry'' *''The Iconoclast,'' Leo Conon,

Ghaziabad Ghaziabad () is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and a part of Delhi NCR. It is the administrative headquarters of Ghaziabad district and is the largest city in Western Uttar Pradesh, with a population of 1,729,000. Ghaziaba ...

: Bharti, 1957 ''novel'' *''Newer Poems 1936-1938'' James Kennedy, Melbourne : Lothian, 1939 ''selected work poetry'' *''Richard of Glouceste''r, Kenneth Joseph Kenafick, 1972 ''drama'' *''Maurice Blackburn and the No-Conscription Campaign in the Second World War'' (1948) *''The Australian Labour Movement in Relation to War, Socialism and Internationalism'' (1958) *''Michael Bakunin and Karl Marx'', Melbourne: A. Maller (1948)

References

External links