Sam Aaronovitch

Who was Sam Aaronovitch?

Sam Aaronovitch was a British economist, academic, working class intellectual and senior member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

He was born in the East End of London to Jewish immigrants and his early years were devoted to activity as a Communist Party militant and then a party full timer. In 1945 he was the election agent for one of only two Communist candidates ever elected to London County Council.

Near the age of 50 he entered academia as an economist after studying at Balliol College, Oxford from 1967 to 1971. He once explained his difficulties in filling in applications for university posts: "Education: St George's-in-the-East Secondary, Stepney 1930–34; Balliol College, Oxford 1967–71."

He became head of the economics department at South Bank Polytechnic and published a stream of books and articles on topics such as industrial pricing, insurance, monopoly, the impact of the City on the London economy, macroeconomic policy.

Though he remained a Communist Party member and a devoted Marxist, he was a critic of party orthodoxy.