- Jimmy Deane
Jimmy Deane (1921 in Liverpool-August 2002) was a British
Trotskyist who played a significant role in building theRevolutionary Socialist League . Along withJock Haston andTed Grant , he played a role during the second world war in the Revolutionary Communist Party, the British section of theFourth International .While a member of the Labour Party, he was won over to Trotskyism and joined the
Militant Group in the middle of 1937 at the age of 16. Through him his mother Gertie was recruited, and then his brothers Arthur and Brian, who also played an important role in the Trotskyist movement. When the old militant group split and the Workers International League was formed in 1937, the Deanes, along with Eric Brewer, Tommy Birchall andHarry Matthews , were won over to the new group, and commenced a long association with Ted Grant. By 1945, Jimmy Deane had joined the editorial board of the "Socialist Appeal ", the journal of the Revolutionary Communist Party.The next year, Jimmy Deane was the British delegate to the International Conference of the
Fourth International . He was one of the founders of the Revolutionary Socialist League in 1956 and was appointed as its first General Secretary.After bringing about the unsuccessful fusion between the RSL and the
International Group , Jimmy Deane left Britain forIndia in 1965 and subsequently spent a few years inFiji . Although he returned to Britain he did not resume his active role in the Trotskyist movement: he remained loyal to his political beliefs, though. At the end of his life he declared his support for theSocialist Appeal tendency in the UK in a [http://www.marxist.com/letter-from-jimmy-deane.htm letter] and emphasised that "A Marxist tendency must combat any traces ofultra-leftism that arise out of impatience". Jimmy Deane died in August 2002.External links
*Keith Dickinson [http://www.geocities.com/socialistparty/LabHist/deaneobit.htm Obituary for Jimmy Deane - pioneer UK Trotskyist]
* [http://www.geocities.com/socialistparty/LabHist/Deaneinterview.htm A short interview with Jimmy Deane]
*Rob Sewell [http://www.marxist.com/jimmy-deane-proletarian-revolutionary.htm Jimmy Deane: Proletarian revolutionary, heart and soul]
* [http://www.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/ead/325col.htm Description of the papers of Jimmy Deane] Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick Library
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