Rosina Smith (10 May 1891 – 23 July 1985) 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, educator and union organizer.

Early life

Born Rosina Ellis in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

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 ...

, Smith moved with her family first to

Clay Cross Clay Cross is a town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the North East Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is a former industrial and mining town, about south of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield. It is directly ...

and then Chesterfield in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, where she won a scholarship to attend secondary school. She then became a

pupil teacher Pupil teacher was a training program in wide use before the twentieth century, as an apprentice system for teachers. With the emergence in the beginning of the nineteenth century of education for the masses, demand for teachers increased. By 1840, ...

and, in 1909, qualified as an infant school teacher.Gisela Chan Man Fong,
The Life and Times of Rose Smith in Britain and China, 1891 - 1985
Smith joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James ...

(SDF) in about 1910 and, the following year, attended a course on political science run by the

Workers Educational Association Workers' Educational Associations (WEA) are not-for-profit bodies that deliver further education to adults in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. WEA UK WEA UK, founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult edu ...

(WEA). She was offered a place at

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, located on a bank of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formally known under ...

to train as a WEA lecturer, but rejected it, as she was concerned that the WEA would restrict her from expressing her

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

views. However, she did attend WEA summer schools at

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. She remained a member of the SDF it later became the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...

.Graham Stevenson,
Smith Rose
', ''Compendium of Communist Biography'' In 1916, she married Alfred Smith, and was thereby compelled to leave her teaching job. Instead, during

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 ...

, she worked in a munitions factory, where she became the leading trade unionist and, later, a full-time union official.

Activism in Mansfield

Around this time, Smith moved to

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

in nearby

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

, where she joined the Socialist Labour Party, the local branch then led by John Lavin and Owen Ford.Kevin Morgan et al, ''Communists and British society, 1920-1991'', p.147 In 1922, the entire branch joined the new

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), although as she was married and had young twin children, the CPGB decided to place her on a special probationary membership. Despite this, Smith became a highly active member, the secretary of the Mansfield Labour College, a delegate to Mansfield

Trades Council A labour council, trades council or industrial council is an association of trade union, labour unions or local union, union branches in a given area. Most commonly, they represent unions in a given geographical area, whether at the district, city, ...

, and a prominent member of the

National Minority Movement The National Minority Movement was a British organisation, established in 1924 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, which attempted to organise a radical presence within the existing labor union, trade unions. The organization was headed by l ...

. In 1928, Smith became the CPGB's National Women's Officer, and the following year, she became a full-time organiser for the CPGB. She stood as the party's candidate in

at the 1929 general election, taking only 533 votes. Smith and her husband had drifted apart, and the two separated in 1930; she moved with the children to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, hoping to organise women involved in local textile work to join the Minority Movement. She was selected to stand for the party in the Burnley constituency at the 1931 general election, but was arrested after supporting pickets during a strike and sentenced to three months in prison.

Later career in England

On her release, Smith relocated to nearby

Bolton Bolton ( , locally ) is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and vill ...

, where she stood in the 1932 council election. In that year, she led the Women's Hunger March, and was elected to the CPGB's Central Committee, serving until 1938. Although generally loyal to the party line, she opposed the dissolution of the National Minority Movement, and lobbied for the party to support

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

. From 1942 until 1955, Smith worked as a journalist with 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 ...

''; she then retired to Chesterfield and devoted the remainder of the decade to the

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is an organisation that advocates unilateral nuclear disarmament by the United Kingdom, international nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation through agreements such as the Nucl ...

. By 1960, she had become bored with this, and decided to move to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

to live with her son, but she felt she was a burden there. She spoke with Ted Hill and decided to take up a post in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, working for the

Foreign Languages Press Foreign Languages Press is a government publishing house located in China. Based in Beijing, it was founded in 1952 and currently forms part of the China International Publishing Group, which is owned and controlled by the Publicity Departmen ...

. After speaking with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

, she decided to support

Maoism Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

following the

Sino-Soviet split The Sino-Soviet split was the gradual worsening of relations between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during the Cold War. This was primarily caused by divergences that arose from their ...

; this led her to lose contact with many former friends in the CPGB.

China

Smith later worked on ''

China Reconstructs ''China Today'' (), until 1990 titled ''China Reconstructs'' (), is a monthly magazine founded in 1952 by Soong Ching-ling in association with Israel Epstein. It is published in Chinese language, English, Spanish, French, Arabic, German and ...

'', the semi-official journal that presented China to foreign readers, and then at the

Xinhua News Agency Xinhua News Agency (English pronunciation: ),J. C. Wells: Longman Pronunciation Dictionary, 3rd ed., for both British and American English or New China News Agency, is the official state news agency of the People's Republic of China. It is a ...

. She left China during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, returning to the Chesterfield, where she worked in a nursing home, but later went back to China, on the personal request of

. She worked until the age of 90, and continued to appear at official events in Beijing until her death in 1985.''China Now'', Nos.115-119, p.37

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Rose 1891 births 1985 deaths English emigrants to China British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members English trade unionists Maoists People from Chesterfield, Derbyshire Social Democratic Federation members Socialist Labour Party (UK, 1903) members British women trade unionists