Philip Spratt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 September 1902 Camberwell, England |
| Died | 8 March 1971 (aged 68) Madras, India |
| Political party | Communist Party of India Radical Democratic Party |
| Spouse | Seetha |
| Occupation | Freedom fighter |
Philip Spratt (26 September 1902 – 8 March 1971) was a British writer and intellectual. Initially a communist sent by the British arm of the Communist International (Comintern), based in Moscow, to spread Communism in India, he subsequently became a friend and colleague of M. N. Roy, founder of the Communist parties in Mexico and India, and along with him became a communist activist.[1]
He was among the first architects, and a founding-member of the Communist Party of India, and was among the chief accused in the Meerut Conspiracy Case; he was arrested on 20 March 1929 and imprisoned.[2][3]
As a result of his reading during his time in jail, and also his observation of political developments in Russia and Western Europe at the time, Philip Spratt renounced Communism in the early 1930s. After India gained independence from the British, he was among the lone voices – such as Sita Ram Goel – against the well-intentioned and fashionable leftist policies of Nehru and the Indian government.[4][5]
He was the Editor of MysIndia, a pro-American weekly, and later of Swarajya, a newspaper run by C. Rajagopalachari. He was also a prolific writer of books, articles and pamphlets on a variety of subjects, and translated books in French, German, Tamil, Sanskrit, and Hindi, into English.
- ^ M. N. Roy Mainstream, Vol XLV, No 35.
- ^ "Working Class Movement Library" Meerut Conspiracy Trial Archived 2 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ ROLE OF THE COMMUNISTS 60 Years of Our Independence and the Left: Some Thoughts – Jyoti Basu, Communist Party of India official website. "We should remember the contribution of communists Rajani Palme Dutt (RPD), Clemens Dutt, Philip Spratt and Ben Bradley."
- ^ Renounced communism.. Jawaharlal Nehru:A Biography, by Sankar Ghose, Allied Publishers, 1993, ISBN 81-7023-369-0. page 280.
- ^ Foreword by Philip Spratt of the Sita Ram Goel's Genesis and Growth of Nehruism.