Betty Hamilton
Encyclopedia
Betty Hamilton was a British Trotskyist
.
Born Berthe Dutoit in the Valais
area of French Switzerland
, the daughter of a socialist engineer, Hamilton moved to Paris
as a young woman. There, she worked as a fashion journalist and, in the left-wing ferment of the early 1930s, became associated with the early Trotskyist movement and with others such as the Greek archeo-Marxists. She moved to London
in the 1930s, working as a dance teacher and moving in radical art and music circles http://www.michael-tippett.com/mttrotsky.htm, then as an industrial worker during the war when she was also the secretary of Newark Labour Party
. Maintaining her links with Trotskyists in Paris she had a key role in linking British and French Trotskyists during and just after the Second World War. http://thinkingaustralia.com/thinking_australia/wikipedia/default.php?title=Pierre_Frank During the war she sheltered emigres from Europe in London. Later she ran her own business importing industrial diamonds which enabled her to help finance the Healy wing of the British Trotskyists.http://www.trotskyana.net/Trotskyists/Bio-Bibliographies/bio-bibl_healy.pdf
From Hamilton's arrival in England, she was a member of various Trotskyist groupings, including the early Militant Group
,http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/Pages/Back/Wnext23/Grant.html the (Workers' International League
http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/pages/Back/Wnext23/Grant.html and the Revolutionary Communist Party
(RCP).http://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/backiss/Vol1/No1/Molinier.htmlhttp://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/Upham/12Upham.html
Hamilton joined Gerry Healy
's split from the RCP, which became The Club
and later the Socialist Labour League (SLL). The SLL was part of the International Committee of the Fourth International
(ICFI). Hamilton was for many years closely linked with Gerry Healy
but, in 1971, she sided with Pierre Lambert
and the French OCI Internationalist Communist Organisation
when the ICFI split into two, ostensibly over the place of philosophy in Marxist theory, but equally about control of the ICFI after the OCI grew to be larger than the SLL in the late 1960s.http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/Pages/Healy/Chap8.html She remained a formal but dissident member of the SLL until the formation of the Bulletin Group in 1974-5. She took public stands as a Trotskyist, condemning Healy's allegations that Joseph Hansen
, one of the American Socialist Workers Party leaders, was a CIA agent. http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/swp-us/verdict.htm
Hamilton co-founded the BCRFI (British Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International) after disagreements with Robin Blick and John Archer within the Bulletin Group, which then split. She later joined the Socialist Labour Group
when the two sections of the original Bulletin Group joined together again in 1980. She maintained an active membership of the Labour Party for most of her life in Britain, in North London, in Newark during the war and, from the 1940s until old age, in Westminster.
She was the aunt of Charles Dutoit
, the conductor.
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
.
Born Berthe Dutoit in the Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
area of French Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, the daughter of a socialist engineer, Hamilton moved to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
as a young woman. There, she worked as a fashion journalist and, in the left-wing ferment of the early 1930s, became associated with the early Trotskyist movement and with others such as the Greek archeo-Marxists. She moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in the 1930s, working as a dance teacher and moving in radical art and music circles http://www.michael-tippett.com/mttrotsky.htm, then as an industrial worker during the war when she was also the secretary of Newark Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. Maintaining her links with Trotskyists in Paris she had a key role in linking British and French Trotskyists during and just after the Second World War. http://thinkingaustralia.com/thinking_australia/wikipedia/default.php?title=Pierre_Frank During the war she sheltered emigres from Europe in London. Later she ran her own business importing industrial diamonds which enabled her to help finance the Healy wing of the British Trotskyists.http://www.trotskyana.net/Trotskyists/Bio-Bibliographies/bio-bibl_healy.pdf
From Hamilton's arrival in England, she was a member of various Trotskyist groupings, including the early Militant Group
Militant Group
The Militant Group was an early British Trotskyist group, formed in 1935 by Denzil Dean Harber, former leader of the Marxist Group, as an entrist group inside the Labour Party....
,http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/Pages/Back/Wnext23/Grant.html the (Workers' International League
Workers' International League (1937)
The Workers' International League was a Trotskyist group in Britain which existed from 1937 to 1944.-Formation:The WIl was formed in 1937 by around members of the Militant Group, who had split due to false allegations from the leadership of that group that Ralph Lee, then a newly arrived South...
http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/pages/Back/Wnext23/Grant.html and the Revolutionary Communist Party
Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944)
The Revolutionary Communist Party was a British Trotskyist group, formed in 1944 and active until 1949, which published the newspaper Socialist Appeal, a theoretical journal Workers International News and an entrist paper for its Labour Party work The Militant .- Collapse of the RSL and founding of...
(RCP).http://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/backiss/Vol1/No1/Molinier.htmlhttp://www.revolutionary-history.co.uk/Upham/12Upham.html
Hamilton joined Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
's split from the RCP, which became The Club
The Club (Trotskyist)
The Club was a Trotskyist group in the United Kingdom. It operated inside the Labour Party and was the official section of the Fourth International from 1950 until 1953 when, after the FI split, it became part of the International Committee of the Fourth International...
and later the Socialist Labour League (SLL). The SLL was part of the International Committee of the Fourth International
International Committee of the Fourth International
The International Committee of the Fourth International is the name of two Trotskyist internationals; one with sections named Socialist Equality Party which publishes the World Socialist Web Site and another linked to the Workers Revolutionary Party in Britain.-Foundation:The International...
(ICFI). Hamilton was for many years closely linked with Gerry Healy
Gerry Healy
Thomas Gerard Healy, known as Gerry Healy , was a political activist, a co-founder of the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, according to former prominent U.S. supporter David North, the leader of the Trotskyist movement in Great Britain between 1950 – 1985...
but, in 1971, she sided with Pierre Lambert
Pierre Lambert
Pierre Lambert was a French Trotskyist leader, who, for many years acted as the central leader of the French Courant Communiste Internationaliste which founded the Parti des Travailleurs.He was born in Paris to a family of Russian Jewish immigrants...
and the French OCI Internationalist Communist Organisation
Internationalist Communist Organisation
The Internationalist Communist Organisation was a Trotskyist political party in France. Its successor is the Internationalist Communist Current of the Workers Party.-Origins:...
when the ICFI split into two, ostensibly over the place of philosophy in Marxist theory, but equally about control of the ICFI after the OCI grew to be larger than the SLL in the late 1960s.http://www.whatnextjournal.co.uk/Pages/Healy/Chap8.html She remained a formal but dissident member of the SLL until the formation of the Bulletin Group in 1974-5. She took public stands as a Trotskyist, condemning Healy's allegations that Joseph Hansen
Joseph Hansen (socialist)
Joseph Leroy Hansen , was an American Trotskyist and leading figure in the Socialist Workers Party.Born in Richfield, Utah, Joseph Hansen was the oldest of 15 children in a poor working class family, and he was the only one of them who could attend college. His father, Conrad J. Z...
, one of the American Socialist Workers Party leaders, was a CIA agent. http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/swp-us/verdict.htm
Hamilton co-founded the BCRFI (British Committee for the Reconstruction of the Fourth International) after disagreements with Robin Blick and John Archer within the Bulletin Group, which then split. She later joined the Socialist Labour Group
Socialist Labour Group
The Socialist Labour Group was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1979 and 1989.-Overview:The SLG originated politically in the 1971 split in the International Committee of the Fourth International , between Gerry Healy's British Socialist Labour League and Pierre Lambert's French...
when the two sections of the original Bulletin Group joined together again in 1980. She maintained an active membership of the Labour Party for most of her life in Britain, in North London, in Newark during the war and, from the 1940s until old age, in Westminster.
She was the aunt of Charles Dutoit
Charles Dutoit
Charles Édouard Dutoit, is a Swiss conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of French and Russian 20th century music...
, the conductor.