Harold Joseph Laski
Born:
16 Tammuz 5653 (30 June 1893)
Died:
6 Nisan 5710 (24 March 1950)
Basic Information
Birth
Date of birth:
16 Tammuz 5653 (30 June 1893)
Place of birth:
Manchester
Death
Date of death:
6 Nisan 5710 (24 March 1950)
Places
Addresses
255 Cheetham Hill Road Cheetham Manchester (1901)
27 Smedley Lane Cheetham Manchester (1911)
Schools
Name:
St Lukes School, Cheetham
Name:
Manchester Grammar School
Other Organisations
Name:
Labour Party Executive Committee
Classical and History Sixth Form, 1910. Harold Laski is on the front row, second from the right
MGS Archive
Classical and History Sixth Form, 1910. Harold Laski is on the front row, second from the right
MGS Archive
Political Activism
In April 1913, in the cause of women's suffrage, he and a friend planted an explosive device in the men's lavatory at Oxted railway station, Surrey: it exploded, but caused only slight damage.
Harold was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of Economics from 1926 to 1950. He first promoted pluralism by emphasising the importance of local voluntary communities such as trade unions. After 1930, he began to emphasize the need for a workers' revolution, which he hinted might be violent. Laski's position angered Labour leaders who promised a nonviolent democratic transformation. Laski's position on democracy threatening violence came under further attack from Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the 1945 general election, and the Labour Party had to disavow Laski, its own chairman.
Laski was one of Britain's most influential intellectual spokesmen for Communism in the interwar years.[citation needed] In particular, his teaching greatly inspired students, some of whom later became leaders of the newly-independent nations in Asia and Africa.
(Wikipedia)
Family
Spouse
Winifred Mary Laski (female)
Other surname / Maiden name:
Kerry
Place of marriage:
Scotland, 1911
Children
Siblings
Parents
Father: Nathan Laski (male)
Mother: Sarah Laski (female)
Homefront
Occupation:
Lecturer in Canada and the US
Member of family in armed forces:
Brother Captain Neville Laski
What was the impact of this:
Harold did not serve in the First World War as he was considered medically unfit. Instead he continued in his position lecturing in political science at McGill University in Montreal 1914-16, and then Harvard until 1920, before returning to the UK.
Other Occupations
Type of employment:
University Lecturer
Organisation:
McGill University
Type of employment:
University Lecturer
Organisation:
Harvard University
Type of employment:
Professor of Political Science
Organisation:
London School of Economics
