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{{short description|South African communist activist and trade unionist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ray Alexander Simons
| birth_name = Rachel Ester Alexandrowich
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1913|12|31}}
| birth_place = [[Varakļāni]], [[Latvia]],
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2004|9|12|1913|12|31}}
| death_place = [[Cape Town]], [[South Africa]]
| occupation = [[Internal resistance to apartheid|Anti-apartheid]] activist<br>[[Trade unionist|Trade union]]<br>
[[Campaigner]]
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|[[Eli Weinberg]]|1937|2 May 1940|reason=divorced}}|{{marriage|[[Jack Simons (academic)|Jack Simons]]|1941|12 December 1995|reason=his death}}}}
| children = Mary Simons<br>Tanya Barben<br>Johan Simons
}}
'''Ray Alexander Simons''' (née Alexandrowich; (31 December 1913 – 12 September 2004) was a South African [[Communism|communist]], [[Anti-Apartheid Movement|anti-apartheid activist]], [[Civil society campaign|campaigner]] and [[trade unionist]] who helped draft the [[Women's Charter]]. She moved to [[Cape Town]] in 1929 to escape the persecution of Jews and communists.

== Early life ==
Simons was born in [[Varakļāni|Varklia (Varakļāni)]], [[Latvia]] as Rachel Ester Alexandrowich on 31 December 1913. She was one of six children from Simka Simon and Dobe Alexandrowich.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Villa-Vicencio, Charles.|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft4p3006kc&chunk.id=d0e1448&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e1448&brand=ucpress|title=The spirit of freedom : South African leaders on religion and politics|date=1996|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-91626-5|location=Berkeley|pages=22–33|oclc=45728692}}</ref> Her father was a teacher of [[Russian language]], [[German language|German Language]] and mathematics. He also ran a [[cheder]] where the [[Jews|Jewish]] boys studied [[talmud]] and prepared their [[Bar and bat mitzvah|bar mizvah]]. She lived in a household full of books which exposed her to [[Socialism|socialist]] and communist ideologist. Her father died when she was 12 years old. His best friend, [[Leib Yaffe|Leib Jaffe]], influenced Ray's thinking about socialist ideas and awareness of the vital function of organization to advance worker's right.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last1=Shain|first1=Milton|last2=Pimstone|first2=Miriam|title=Ray Alexander (Simons) {{!}} Jewish Women's Archive|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/alexander-simons-ray|access-date=2020-07-15|website=jwa.org}}</ref> The death of her father caused Simons to become an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref name=":0" />

At the age of 13, she joined the underground [[Communist Party of Latvia|Latvian Communist Party]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|date=2004-09-22|title=Ray Simons|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/ray-simons-550517.html|access-date=2020-07-15|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> When Simons was fourteen, she was invited to participate in a debate on the [[Balfour Declaration]] which was held by local [[Zionism|Zionist]] organization. She declined because she believed that the fight against [[antisemitism]] should be a part of broader humanity's strive to achieve a new order of the world where all humankind would be free, including Jews. Because of persecution of Jews in [[Varakļāni]], she was sent to [[Riga]] to advance her studies at the ORT technical college and lived with her close friend Leah.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== Cape Town ==
After Leah was arrested for her political activities, her mother was worried and immediately arranged for Simons to live with her sister in Cape Town. 17 October 1929 she left Varaklan on board [[Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie|German East Afrika Liner, Ubena]] and arrived at Cape Town to meet her sister at the docks on 6 November 1929, a day before the anniversary of the [[Russian Revolution]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Belling|first=Veronica|date=2014-05-04|title=The making of a South African Jewish activist: the Yiddish diary of Ray Alexander Simons, Latvia, 1927|journal=Jewish Culture and History|volume=15|issue=1–2|pages=110–123|doi=10.1080/1462169X.2014.897455|s2cid=161477434|issn=1462-169X}}</ref> Five days after her arrival on 11 November 1929, she met [[Zainunnisa Gool|Cissie Gool]] and lifelong friend [[John gomas|John Gomas]] and joined the [[South African Communist Party|Communist Party of South Africa]] (CPSA). At that time, Simons was 16 years old.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=17 February 2011|title=Ray Alexander Simons {{!}} South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/ray-alexander-simons|access-date=2020-07-15|website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref>

Simons was fired from her first job after she participated in the [[Pass laws|anti-pass]] campaign.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|title=Keynote address by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe at the launch of Ray Alexander-Simons Museum and Heritage Square, Gugulethu, Cape Town {{!}} South African Government|url=https://www.gov.za/keynote-address-deputy-president-kgalema-motlanthe-launch-ray-alexander-simons-museum-and-heritage|access-date=2020-07-15|website=www.gov.za}}</ref> She became increasingly involved in trade union activity after she was fired from her job because of her attendance at founding conference of the [[Anti-fascism|Anti-Fascist League]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|date=9 May 2018|title=ANC Statement on the death of Ray Alexander Simons, African National Congress, 12 September 2004 {{!}} South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/anc-statement-death-ray-alexander-simons-african-national-congress-12-september-2004|access-date=2020-07-15|website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref> Simon was elected as the chair of the Cape Town District Committee of the Communist Party in January 1931.<ref name=":2" /> Simon worked in a dress shop and accompanied James Schuba who she met at the meeting of the party on the weekends to visit dock and harbour workers.<ref name=":0" /> Three years after her arrival, she was elected to be Secretary of the [[Industrial and Commercial Workers' Union|Commercial Employees' Union]] in Cape Town. In 1935, she lost her job at the dress shop and she became full-time organizer of the [[South African Railways and Harbours Union|Non-European Railway and Harbor Workers' Union]]<ref name=":1" /> She was also a Secretary of the Communist Party for two years, from 1934 to 1935.<ref name=":3" />

Simons founded [[Food and Canning Workers' Union|Food and Canning Workers Union]] (FCWU) by organising [[Coloureds|coloured, blac]]<nowiki/>k and white workers which was known for its effectiveness and militancy. It spread through the fruit canning industry of the [[Boland, Western Cape|Boland]] to the west coast among fishing communities. She became General Secretary of the organization. FCWU played an important role in the [[South African Congress of Trade Unions]] on the 1950s.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=1 May 2005|title=Polity - Peters: May Day celebrations|url=https://www.polity.org.za/print-version/peters-may-day-celebrations-01052005-2005-05-01|access-date=2020-07-15|website=Engineering News|language=en}}</ref> Using [[Suppression of Communism Act, 1950|Suppression of Communism Act of 1950]] to ban the communist party in 1953, she was ordered to quit the position next year.<ref name=":6" />

Ray Alexander Simons, [[Helen Joseph]], [[Lillian Ngoyi|Lilian Ngoyi]] and [[Florence Mkhize]] found the [[Federation of South African Women]] (FSAW) in April 1954 and she was elected to be General Secretary of the organization. Though, in September 1954, she met with a series of banning orders issued by [[C. R. Swart]] which forced her to resign from (FSAW). In the same year, Simons was elected as one of the three Natives' Representative in South Africa's parliament. Although the banning order forbid her from taking her seat, she still went to the parliament and pushed by a security policeman on the premise. She sued the act and received compensation which covered the cost of her election campaign.<ref name=":4" />

== Exile life ==
In 1965, she and her husband Jack Simons fled to [[Lusaka]], [[Zambia]]. Jack received a lecturer position at [[University of Manchester|Manchester University]] and moved to England. They returned to Zambia in 1967 and built a home for themselves for their three children's visitation. While in exile at Zambia, Ray co-authored a book called ''Class and Colour in South Africa, 1850–1950'' with Jack Simons and worked for the [[International Labour Organization]] and [[African National Congress]] (ANC) which was banned in South Africa. They had lived in Zambia for most of 25 years between 1965 and 1990.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Macmillan|first=Hugh|date=2009-06-01|title=The African National Congress of South Africa in Zambia: The Culture of Exile and the Changing Relationship with Home, 1964–1990*|journal=Journal of Southern African Studies|volume=35|issue=2|pages=303–329|doi=10.1080/03057070902919876|s2cid=144264448|issn=0305-7070}}</ref> In her exile in 1986, she was elected as Honorary President of the Food and Allied Workers' Union. They returned from exile in 1990.<ref name=":0" />

== Personal life ==
Ray Alexander married [[Eli Weinberg]] when Eli was the acting Secretary to the local committee of the [[South African Trades Union Council|South African Trades and Labour Council]]. They separated on 2 May 1940.<ref>{{Cite web|date=17 February 2011|title=Eli Weinberg {{!}} South African History Online|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/eli-weinberg|access-date=2020-07-15|website=www.sahistory.org.za}}</ref> In 1941, she married [[Jack Simons (academic)|Jack Simons]], a lecturer at the [[University of Cape Town]] and a fellow communist. They had three children.<ref name=":2" /> She died in [[Cape Town]] on 12 September 2004 at the age of 91.<ref name=":3" />

== Award and legacy ==
She was awarded the [[Isitwalandwe/Seaparankoe|Isitwalandwe Medal]] in 2004 by the [[African National Congress]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ray Alexander Simons - South African Women Activists Celebrated|url=http://southafrica.co.za/ray-alexander-simons.html|access-date=2020-07-15|website=southafrica.co.za}}</ref> Ray Alexander Simons Memory Centre and Heritage Square in [[Gugulethu|Guguletho]] was built and launched by Deputy President of South Africa, [[Kgalema Motlanthe]] on 6 November 2010.<ref name=":5" />

[[Order for Meritorious Service]] in silver (2003).

In March 2011, the country of [[Sierra Leone]] issued a postage stamp in her honor, naming her as one of the [[Legendary Heroes of Africa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/12-Jews-honored-on-African-stamps-as-Apartheid-fighters|title=12 Jews honored on African stamps as Apartheid fighters|date=March 2011 |accessdate=30 October 2017}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* Milton Shain and Miriam Pimstone, [http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/alexander-simons-ray Ray Alexander (Simons)], Jewish Women Encyclopedia

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simons, Rachel}}
[[Category:South African women in politics]]
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:South African Communist Party politicians]]
[[Category:South African atheists]]
[[Category:Jewish South African politicians]]
[[Category:Jewish socialists]]
[[Category:Latvian emigrants to South Africa]]
[[Category:South African anti-apartheid activists]]

Ray Alexander Simons - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Added date. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Abductive | Category:South African anti-apartheid activists | #UCB_Category 227/554