Betty Papworth

Betty Papworth (1914 – July 2008) was a British communist and anti-war activist. She was a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and Stop the War Coalition.

Biography Papworth was born into a large Jewish family in 1914 in Stepney, in the East End of London. She married Transport and General Workers Union official Bert Papworth.

With the rise of the British Union of Fascists, Papworth became a member of the Stepney branch of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and took part in the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.

During World War II, Papworth worked making gyroscope compasses at the London Sperry aircraft factory. learned the Russian language and sold the Greater London Pensioners Association newsletter outside Parliament weekly. In 2004, she travelled to Israel with Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn to witness the release of the Israeli peace activist and whistle-blower Mordechai Vanunu from prison.

Papworth died in July 2008. She was cremated and her ashes were buried at Golders Green Crematorium.