Philip Josephs

Who was Philip Josephs?

Philip Josephs was a Jewish anarchist, anti-militarist, radical bookseller and tailor active in the New Zealand labour movement. He was a member of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Socialist Party, ran their economics class and contributed to their paper, the "Commonweal". He helped revive the Anti-Militarist League in Wellington in 1912, and was elected secretary. On 9 July 1913 he helped launch New Zealand's first anarchist collective, Freedom Group, which lasted for a year. He was arrested during a police raid for possessing banned literature in 1915.