Albert Meltzer
Overview
 
Albert Meltzer was an anarcho-communist activist and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

.
Meltzer was born in 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...

, and attracted to anarchism
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...

 at the age of fifteen as a direct result of taking boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 lessons . The Labour
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...

 MP for Edmonton
Edmonton, London
Edmonton is an area in the east of the London Borough of Enfield, England, north-north-east of Charing Cross. It has a long history as a settlement distinct from Enfield.-Location:...

, Edith Summerskill
Edith Summerskill
Edith Clara Summerskill, Baroness Summerskill CH PC was a British physician, feminist, misandrist, Labour politician and writer. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1949.-Early life:...

 was virulently anti-boxing and his school governors at The Latymer School
The Latymer School
The Latymer School is a selective, mixed grammar school in Edmonton, north London, England.- Examination procedures :Approximately 180 pupils are admitted to Year 7 annually. Places are awarded on the basis of competitive examination, though 20 are reserved for students with exceptional musical...

 considered it "common" . At his first anarchist meeting in 1935, he contradicted Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....

's comments on boxing. As the Spanish Revolution
Spanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...

 turned into the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...

 Meltzer became active organising solidarity appeals.
Quotations

If I can't have a revolution, what is there to dance about?

Probably a response to the famous Emma Goldman (mis-) quote about dancing and revolution

 
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