Ray Alexander Simons (née Alexandrowich; (31 December 1913 – 12 September 2004) was a South African

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 ...

, anti-apartheid activist, campaigner and

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

who helped draft the

Women's Charter The Women's Charter 1961 is an Act of the Singaporean Parliament passed in 1961. The Act was designed to improve and protect the rights of women in Singapore and to guarantee greater legal equality for women in legally sanctioned relationships ...

. She moved to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

in 1929 to escape the persecution of Jews and communists.

Early life

Simons was born in Varklia (Varakļāni),

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

as Rachel Ester Alexandrowich on 31 December 1913. She was one of six children from Simka Simon and Dobe Alexandrowich. Her father was a teacher of

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

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and mathematics. He also ran a

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

where the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

boys studied

talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

and prepared their bar mizvah. She lived in a household full of books which exposed her to

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and communist ideologist. Her father died when she was 12 years old. His best friend, Leib Jaffe, influenced Ray's thinking about socialist ideas and awareness of the vital function of organization to advance worker's right. The death of her father caused Simons to become an

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

. At the age of 13, she joined the underground Latvian Communist Party. When Simons was fourteen, she was invited to participate in a debate on the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

which was held by local

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

organization. She declined because she believed that the fight against

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

should be a part of broader humanity's strive to achieve a new order of the world where all humankind would be free, including Jews. Because of persecution of Jews in Varakļāni, she was sent to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

to advance her studies at the ORT technical college and lived with her close friend Leah.

Cape Town

After Leah was arrested for her political activities, her mother was worried and immediately arranged for Simons to live with her sister in Cape Town. 17 October 1929 she left Varaklan on board German East Afrika Liner, Ubena and arrived at Cape Town to meet her sister at the docks on 6 November 1929, a day before the anniversary of the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. Five days after her arrival on 11 November 1929, she met Cissie Gool and lifelong friend John Gomas and joined the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA). At that time, Simons was 16 years old. Simons was fired from her first job after she participated in the anti-pass campaign. She became increasingly involved in trade union activity after she was fired from her job because of her attendance at founding conference of the Anti-Fascist League. Simon was elected as the chair of the Cape Town District Committee of the Communist Party in January 1931. Simon worked in a dress shop and accompanied James Schuba who she met at the meeting of the party on the weekends to visit dock and harbour workers. Three years after her arrival, she was elected to be Secretary of the Commercial Employees' Union in Cape Town. In 1935, she lost her job at the dress shop and she became full-time organizer of the Non-European Railway and Harbor Workers' Union She was also a Secretary of the Communist Party for two years, from 1934 to 1935. Simons founded Food and Canning Workers Union (FCWU) by organising coloured, black and white workers which was known for its effectiveness and militancy. It spread through the fruit canning industry of the Boland to the west coast among fishing communities. She became General Secretary of the organization. FCWU played an important role in the

South African Congress of Trade Unions The South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) was a national trade union federation in South Africa. History The federation was established in March 1955, after right wing unions dissolved the South African Trades and Labour Council in 1954 t ...

on the 1950s. Using Suppression of Communism Act of 1950 to ban the communist party in 1953, she was ordered to quit the position next year. Ray Alexander Simons, Helen Joseph,

Lilian Ngoyi Lilian Masediba Matabane Ngoyi, "Ma Ngoyi", OMSG (25 September 1911 – 13 March 1980) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped ...

and Florence Mkhize found the

Federation of South African Women The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was a political lobby group formed in 1954. At FEDSAW's inaugural conference, a Women's Charter was adopted. Its founding was spear-headed by Lillian Ngoyi. Introduction The Federation of South Afri ...

(FSAW) in April 1954 and she was elected to be General Secretary of the organization. Though, in September 1954, she met with a series of banning orders issued by

C. R. Swart Charles Robberts Swart (5 December 1894 – 16 July 1982), nicknamed "Blackie", was a South African politician who served as the last governor-general of the Union of South Africa from 1959 to 1961 and the first state president of the Republi ...

which forced her to resign from (FSAW). In the same year, Simons was elected as one of the three Natives' Representative in South Africa's parliament. Although the banning order forbid her from taking her seat, she still went to the parliament and pushed by a security policeman on the premise. She sued the act and received compensation which covered the cost of her election campaign.

Exile life

In 1965, she and her husband Jack Simons fled to

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. Jack received a lecturer position at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

and moved to England. They returned to Zambia in 1967 and built a home for themselves for their three children's visitation. While in exile at Zambia, Ray co-authored a book called ''Class and Colour in South Africa, 1850–1950'' with Jack Simons and worked for the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

and

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a political party in South Africa. It originated as a liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid and has governed the country since 1994, when the 1994 South African general election, fir ...

(ANC) which was banned in South Africa. They had lived in Zambia for most of 25 years between 1965 and 1990. In her exile in 1986, she was elected as Honorary President of the Food and Allied Workers' Union. They returned from exile in 1990.

Personal life

Ray Alexander married Eli Weinberg when Eli was the acting Secretary to the local committee of the South African Trades and Labour Council. They separated on 2 May 1940. In 1941, she married Jack Simons, a lecturer at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

and a fellow communist. They had three children. She died in

on 12 September 2004 at the age of 91.

Award and legacy

She was awarded the Isitwalandwe Medal in 2004 by the

. Ray Alexander Simons Memory Centre and Heritage Square in Guguletho was built and launched by Deputy President of South Africa,

Kgalema Motlanthe Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe (; born 19 July 1949) is a South African politician who served as the 3rd president of South Africa from 25 September 2008 to 9 May 2009, following the resignation of Thabo Mbeki. Thereafter, he was deputy president und ...

on 6 November 2010.

Order for Meritorious Service The Order for Meritorious Service is a South African National Order that consisted of two classes, in gold and silver, and was awarded to deserving South African citizens. The order was discontinued on 2 December 2002.Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

issued a postage stamp in her honor, naming her as one of the Legendary Heroes of Africa.

References

External links

* Milton Shain and Miriam Pimstone
Ray Alexander (Simons)
Jewish Women Encyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Rachel South African women in politics 1914 births 2004 deaths South African Communist Party politicians South African atheists Jewish South African politicians Jewish socialists Latvian emigrants to South Africa South African anti-apartheid activists