Skip to main content
Advertise Buy the paper Contact us Shop Subscribe Support us

Error message

An error occurred while searching, try again later.
David Ivon Jones (1883-1924): the African from Aberystwyth
Although he was a legendary organiser in South Africa — where he was an early advocate of racial unity, and he was finally buried with honours in Moscow — it is in his native Wales that this hero needs recognition, writes ROBERT GRIFFITHS

WHEN the body was brought to Moscow on Saturday June 14 1924, it was received by deputations from the Soviet government, the Red Army, Russian factories, the Comintern, the Youth International and many of the world’s new-born communist parties.

The four Communist Party representatives from Britain carried a wreath on which was inscribed: “To the memory of a great South African fighter.”

Except that the dead man was not South African at all. He was a Welsh-speaking native of Aberystwyth in Cardiganshire, a former preacher in the town’s Unitarian chapel and an ex-correspondent for the West Wales Gazette.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Features / 27 February 2025
27 February 2025
From McCarthy’s prison cells to London’s carnival, Jones fought for peace and unity while exposing the lies of US imperialism, says ROBERT GRIFFITHS, in a graveside oration at Highgate Cemetery given last Sunday
Features / 4 November 2024
4 November 2024
In the second of two articles on Labour’s weak Budget, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that Britain’s massive private wealth and offshore tax havens show clear potential for radical redistribution through progressive taxation
Features / 3 November 2024
3 November 2024
In the first of two articles, ROBERT GRIFFITHS argues that despite a parliamentary majority, Labour’s timid Budget fails to seize a historic opportunity and lacks the ambition needed to address Britain’s deep social and economic crises
Features / 30 September 2024
30 September 2024
As the People's Republic turns 75, ROBERT GRIFFITHS details how British communists championed Chinese sovereignty against imperialism, weathering the political storms of the Sino-Soviet split and collapse of the USSR to rebuild relations for the modern era