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Harold Joseph Laski (Manchester, June 30, 1893 – March 24, 1950 in London) was an English political scientist, economist, author, and lecturer, and served as the 1945-1946 chairman of the Labour Party.
After attending Manchester Grammar School and New College, Oxford University, Laski became (1922-1936) a member of the executive committee of the socialist Fabian Society, and in 1936 he joined the Executive Committee of the Labour Party. Cowling describes him as a "prolific publicist and journalist".
In 1926 he was appointed professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics. One of his more famous books isReflections on the Revolution of Our Time (which was dedicated to Edward R. Murrow as mentioned in the feature film Good Night, and Good Luck). He was active on the American university lecture circuit. His remarkable 19 year friendship with Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, begun when he was 23 and Holmes was 75, is reflected in two volumes of correspondence, published in 1953.
Ayn Rand once saw a speech of Laski's with a friend, and afterwards decided to use his image in forming the character of Ellsworth Toohey, the major antagonist of her novel The Fountainhead.
- Maurice Cowling, The Impact of Hitler - British Politics & Policy 1933-1940, Cambridge University Press, 1975, p.410, ISBN0-521-20582-4
Selected Laski bibliography
- Studies in the Problem of Sovereignty, 1917
- Authority in the Modern State, 1919, ISBN 1584772751
- Political Thought in England from Locke to Bentham, 1920
- Karl Marx, 1921
- Communism, 1927
- Liberty in the Modern State, 1930
- Democracy in Crisis, 1933
- The American Presidency, 1940
- Reflections On the Revolution of our Time , 1943
- Faith, Reason, and Civilisation, 1944
- The American Democracy, 1948
External links
- Biography and various quotations regarding Laski
- Brief biographical sketch from the London School of Economics
1893 births | 1950 deaths | English non-fiction writers | Academics of the London School of Economics | UK Labour Party politicians
"Harold Laski"