Michael Alan Harmel OLG (7 February 1915 – 18 June 1974) was a South African anti-

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

activist, journalist and editor. He was a political mentor and friend of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

. Harmel was a member of the Central Committee of the

South African Communist Party The South African Communist Party (SACP) is a communist party in South Africa. It was founded on 12 February 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA), and tactically dissolved itself in 1950 in the face of being declared illegal by t ...

and its leading theoretician. He was honoured posthumously with the

Order of Luthuli The Order of Luthuli is a South African honour. It was instituted on 30 November 2003 and is awarded by the President of South Africa for contributions to the struggle for democracy, human rights, nation-building, justice, or peace and conflict ...

in 2013.Michael Alan Harmel (Posthumous)
The Presidency - Republic of South Africa. 2013

Early life

Harmel was born in

Doornfontein Doornfontein ( ) is an inner-city suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, located to the east of the city centre. It is in Region F of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. In the 1930s, it attracted many Jewish immigrants, becoming ...

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

to Irish Jewish immigrant parents. His paternal grandfather, Michael Harmel came from the

shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...

of Pikeliai in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(modern day

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

). He married Michael's grandmother, Hannah Deborah (Dora), from

Leckava Leckava ( Samogitian: ''Leckava'', ) is a town in Telšiai County, Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the ...

and with whom he had seven children and one adoptive daughter. The couple emigrated to

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the early 1870s. One of the daughters, Michael's aunt, Molly Harmel, was also the mother of Michael's cousin, the Irish writer, Michael Sayers. Michael's Irish-born father, Arthur Aaron Harmel trained as a pharmacist in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and emigrated to South Africa in 1910. In

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...

, he married Sarah Landau, also from the Irish Jewish community and born to

Polish Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...

parents. Michael's mother, Sarah, died of

Spanish flu The 1918–1920 flu pandemic, also known as the Great Influenza epidemic or by the common misnomer Spanish flu, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 subtype of the influenza A virus. The earliest docum ...

when he was three years-old.The Irishman who fought with Mandela for freedom
''The Irish Times'' Michael was then raised by his father and aunt in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

town of

Vrede Vrede is a town in the Free State province of South Africa that is the agricultural hub of a 100 km² region. Maize, wheat, mutton, wool, beef, dairy products and poultry are farmed in the region. History Archeological and records conducte ...

. Michael later moved to

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

with his father. Michael attended the primary school of

Selborne College Selborne College is a semi-private English medium male-only school situated in the suburb of Selborne and Belgravia (the suburb was named after the school) of East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa; it is one of the few colle ...

in 1923. The family then relocated to

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

and Michael began attending

Grey High School Grey High School is a State school, semi-private English-medium high school (grades 8 to 12) for boys situated in the suburb of Mill Park in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is one of the top sporting schools in the coun ...

in 1924, matriculating in 1932. In this period, Michael also had his ''

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

'' at Port Elizabeth Hebrew Congregation. He enrolled for a BA in English literature and Economics at

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

. He wrote poetry and literary reviews for ''The Rhodian'', a bi-annual publication of submissions by Rhodes students. He also founded and edited the short-lived publication, ''The Adelphi'', billed as "A South African Monthly Review of Literature, Public Affairs and The Arts".Oralek, Milan (2020). Michael Harmel (1915-1974): A South African Communist and His Discourse. Open Access Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.26686/wgtn.17144345.v1

Activism and career

In 1938, Harmel returned to work at the Johannesburg newspaper, '' The Star'', where he had worked in the winter vacation of the previous year. He later left the country, relocating to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

for fifteen months, where he joined the

British Communist Party 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 ...

and was employed by their newspaper, the ''

Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

''. In this period, he embraced the ideology of

Leninism Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...

. Upon his return to Johannesburg, he was elected secretary of the

's local District Committee in 1940. He also joined the editorial board of ''Inkululeko'', the communications organ of the party. In 1952, he was banned under the

Suppression of Communism Act, 1950 The Suppression of Communism Act, 1950 (Act No. 44 of 1950), renamed the Internal Security Act in 1976, was legislation of the national government in apartheid South Africa which formally banned the South African Communist Party, Communist Party ...

which he defied, resulting in subsequent arrests and renewed banning orders. In the same year, the

South African Jewish Board of Deputies The South African Jewish Board of Deputies is an organisation formed in 1912 from the merger of the Board for the Transvaal and the Board for the Cape. It serves as the central representative institution of most of the country's Hebrew congregatio ...

distanced itself from an allegation in a police report that the Board controlled the

. The police report had quoted Harmel as its source. He then became involved with establishing the radical left-wing white, anti-apartheid organization,

South African Congress of Democrats The South African Congress of Democrats (SACOD) was a radical left-wing white, anti-apartheid organization founded in South Africa in 1952 or 1953 as part of the multi-racial Congress Alliance, after the African National Congress (ANC) invited wh ...

, which formed part of the

Congress Alliance The Congress Alliance was an anti-apartheid political coalition formed in South Africa in the 1950s. Led by the African National Congress, the CA was multi-racial in makeup and committed to the principle of majority rule. Congress of the Peopl ...

. In this, he was joined by

Ruth First Heloise Ruth First OLG (4 May 1925 – 17 August 1982) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and scholar. She was assassinated in Mozambique, where she was working in exile, by a parcel bomb built by South African police. Family and ...

Joe Slovo Yossel Mashel "Joe" Slovo (23 May 1926 – 6 January 1995) was a South African politician and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist. A Marxist-Leninist, he was a long-time leader and theorist in the South African Com ...

, and

Bram Fischer Abraham Louis Fischer (23 April 19088 May 1975) was a South African Communist lawyer of Afrikaner descent with partial Anglo-African ancestry from his paternal grandmother, notable for anti-apartheid activism and for the legal defence of anti- ...

, among others. In 1955 he served a one-year term as principal of Central Indian High School in the

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...

. The school was formed by the Transvaal Indian Congress in response to the government's closure of the Fordsburg Indian High School. The new school was pioneering for having a multi-racial teaching staff. In 1959, he took on the role of editor of the publication, '' The African Communist''. He continued in the role until the early 1970s. In addition, he was published by ''

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 ...

'' in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

as a correspondent. In 1962, he revived ''The Adelphi'', publishing work by himself,

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

Yevgeny Yevtushenko Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Yevtushenko (; 18 July 1933 – 1 April 2017) was a Soviet and Russian poet, novelist, essayist, dramatist, screenwriter, publisher, actor, editor, university professor, and director of several films. Biography Early lif ...

John Pepper Clark John Pepper Clark-Bekederemo (6 April 1935 – 13 October 2020) was a Nigerian poet and playwright. He popularly published as J. P. Clark and John Pepper Clark. Life Born in Kiagbodo, Nigeria, to an Ijaw father and Urhobo mother, Clark was a di ...

Christopher Okigbo Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo (16 August 1932 – 1967) was a Nigerian poet, teacher, and librarian, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as an outstanding Postcolonialism, postcolonial English-languag ...

Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo (4 March 1901 or 1903 – 22 June 1937), born Joseph-Casimir Rabearivelo, was a Malagasy people, Malagasy poet who is widely considered to be Africa's first modern poet and the greatest literary artist of Madagascar. Par ...

and future-president,

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who served as the 2nd democratic president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Cong ...

. In the same year he received a five-year banning order. The previous year he had joined the High Command of

Umkhonto we Sizwe uMkhonto weSizwe (; abbreviated MK; ) was the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress (ANC), founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre. Its mission was to fight against the South African government to brin ...

, attending clandestine meetings at Lilliesleaf Farm in

Rivonia Rivonia is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Sandton area. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Rivonia is one of the most affluent residential and business suburbs of Johannesburg, and r ...

. He was named as a co-conspirator in the

Rivonia Trial The Rivonia Trial was a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location f ...

of 1963–64. On the occasion of the SACP's fiftieth anniversary in 1971, he was asked to write a biography of the party. He wrote ''Fifty Fighting Years'', publishing it under the pen name, A. Lerumo. In 1972, he relocated to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

on a secondment, as the SACP's representative for the publication, '' World Marxist Review''. In 2021, his

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novel, ''The White People'', was published posthumously by Jacana in South Africa. Harmel wrote the novel in 1959, it examines the state of the world amid the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Personal life

In the late 1930s, whilst living in London, he reportedly had a brief relationship with the South African writer, Noni Jabavu. Harmel married

Ray Harmel Ray Harmel (1 December 1905 – 11 March 1998) was a Lithuanian-born South African anti-apartheid activist. She was a member of the South African Communist Party, the Garment Workers' Union of South Africa and the African National Congress ...

(née Adler) in 1940, a fellow South African activist, with whom he had a daughter, Barbara. The couple separated in the mid-1960s, whilst living in

exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

in London. The family lived in

Yeoville Yeoville is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F (previously Region 8). Originally intended as a "well-to-do" neighbourhood, it instead developed into a white working ...

before building a family home in 1954 in The Gardens, a suburb of

. This home became a place of welcome and refuge for key political figures being pursued by the South African police, such as

Winnie Mandela Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela (born Nomzamo Winifred Zanyiwe Madikizela; 26 September 1936 – 2 April 2018), also known as Winnie Mandela, was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, second wife of Nelson Mandela. During ...

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

Ahmed Kathrada Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada OMSG (21 August 1929 – 28 March 2017), sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. Kathrada's involvement in the anti-apartheid activities of the African Natio ...

and

Sheila Weinberg Sheila Weinberg (1 October 1945 - 11 November 2004) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and politician. Born in Johannesburg, she was the daughter of Eli and Violet Weinberg who were both members of the ANC and the South African Communis ...

and her family.Ray Harmel: A life fulfilled
''The Mail & Guardian''. 13 March 1998 A

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...

now adorns their former home, commemorating the legacy of both Ray and Michael Harmel.Harmel Home
''The Heritage Portal''. Retrieved on 1 September 2024 Harmel and Ray were friends with

and his wife, Winnie. Glamorous photographs of the couple in their wedding attire were taken at the Harmel home in Johannesburg.Nelson Mandela's prison letter on friend's death up for auction
''The Guardian''. 28 August 2018 Harmel later entered into a relationship with an Irishwoman, Kathleen O’Callaghan. Harmel died of a

cerebral haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

on 18 June 1974. He was cremated and his ashes kept in an urn at Břevnov cemetery in Prague. His ashes were scattered in a glade in Liboc-Vokovice in 2005. A

adorns the former home of Michael and Ray in The Gardens, a suburb of

. It honours their social and political work during the apartheid era.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmel, Michael Jewish South African anti-apartheid activists South African anti-apartheid activists South African socialists Jewish socialists 1915 births 1974 deaths South African exiles South African people of Russian-Jewish descent South African people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent South African people of Polish-Jewish descent South African people of Irish descent Members of the South African Communist Party Rhodes University alumni Recipients of the Order of Luthuli Alumni of Grey High School South African prisoners and detainees