Skip to main content
Deborah Lavin: socialist historian and actor who will be much missed
Deborah Lavin

DEBORAH LAVIN, who died last month aged 68, was a socialist historian, author, actor, activist, mother, mentor, friend and occasional firebrand.

Her funeral service, which in normal times would have seen Islington Crematorium packed to the rafters, was streamed online, with only close family and friends attending, due to Covid-19 virus restrictions.  

It was watched by comrades worldwide; many had campaigned alongside Lavin, or been influenced and inspired by her work.

Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
REMARKABLE: The Danish writer Karen Blixen as a recipient of
International Women's Day 2025 / 8 March 2025
8 March 2025
With most of recorded history dominated by the voices of men, LYNNE WALSH encourages sisters to read the memoirs of women – and to write their own too
© Laura Dodsworth
International Women's Day 2025 / 8 March 2025
8 March 2025
LYNNE WALSH attempts to unravel the latest advice from local authorities on tackling violence against women and girls
A unit of the Bulgarian International Brigade, 1937
Features / 25 January 2025
25 January 2025
Anti-fascists from around the world will soon be travelling to Spain to commemorate the International Brigades and walk in the footsteps of the bravest of their generation, writes LYNNE WALSH
Mannequins
Features / 17 November 2024
17 November 2024
From prostitution to surrogacy, access to women’s bodies can be bought for a fee. LYNNE WALSH reports from a conference exploring the mounting crisis in which women are increasingly seen as products to be consumed
Similar stories
Edith Bessie New
Features / 1 February 2025
1 February 2025
MAT COWARD tells of a pioneering suffragette and one of the first direct actionists, who’s commemorated in a street name in Swindon
Harpal Brar
Britain / 26 January 2025
26 January 2025
9 - Charlotte Despard
Features / 14 November 2024
14 November 2024
Taking up social work after being widowed transformed a Victorian liberal into a lifelong fighter for causes as wide-ranging as Sinn Fein and Indian independence to the right of women to drink in pubs, writes MAT COWARD
books
Culture / 27 August 2024
27 August 2024
LEO BOIX reviews a noir novel featuring flies, a fumigation company and two female ex-convicts by Argentinian Claudia Pineiro, an anthology by contemporary Latin American writers and collections of poetry by Chilean Gabriela Mistral and Puerto Rican Irizelma Robles