Robert Klonsky was a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade

Abraham Lincoln Brigade

The Abraham Lincoln Brigade refers to volunteers from the United States who served in the Spanish Civil War in the International Brigades. They fought for Spanish Republican forces against Franco and the Spanish Nationalists....

, which fought on the side of the Spanish Republicans in 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...

, a prelude to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Biography

Klonsky and Walter Lowenfels

Walter Lowenfels

Walter Lowenfels was an American poet, journalist, and member of the Communist Party USA. He also edited the communist newspaper the Daily Worker.-Early career:...

 were defendants in a trial in the mid-1950s of nine Philadelphia members of the Communist Party

Communist party

A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

. They were convicted in 1954 of violating the Smith Act

Smith Act

The Alien Registration Act or Smith Act of 1940 is a United States federal statute that set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of the U.S...

, which outlawed “teaching or advocating the overthrow of the American government by force.” He served over a year at the federal penitentiary at Allenwood

Allenwood

Allenwood is a small Irish village in County Kildare situated on the Grand Canal. Allenwood is located about from Dublin and half way between Rathangan and Clane in North County Kildare....

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, before the Justice Department

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

 withdrew charges in 1958.

After 1958, Klonsky lived in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, where he ran a bookstore near UCLA and where he remained active in organizing workers in the film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 industry. His son Michael Klonsky

Michael Klonsky

Michael Klonsky is an American educator, author, and political activist. He is known for his work with the Students for a Democratic Society, the New Communist Movement, and, later, the small schools movement.-Political activism:...

 also became active in politics, becoming a national secretary of the Students for a Democratic Society

Students for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)

Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...

 and later leader of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)

Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) (USA)

The Communist Party was a Maoist political party in the United States.- History :The Communist Party 's predecessor organization, the October League , was founded in 1971 by several local groups, many of which had grown out of the radical student organization Students for a Democratic Society when...

. Robert Klonsky supported jailed professor Angela Davis

Angela Davis

Angela Davis is an American political activist, scholar, and author. Davis was most politically active during the late 1960s through the 1970s and was associated with the Communist Party USA, the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Panther Party...

, demonstrated against the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, and had a few acting parts in movies. He and other survivors of the Spanish war were made honorary citizens of Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 in 1998.

Klonsky died September 7, 2002 in Chicago at the age of 84.

External links

• Robert Klonsky, Spanish Civil War Vet, John Johnson.
• Photo of Robert Klonsky, 1937, Peter Stackpole.