Esmonde Macdonald Higgins

Esmonde Macdonald Higgins (26 March 1897 - 25 December 1960) was an Australian political activist and adult education proponent. He was a prominent figure in the early years of the Communist Party of Australia, serving as editor of its official newspaper and running its agitprop department. However, he later became disillusioned with the party and concentrated on his work with the Workers' Educational Association (WEA).

Early life

Higgins was born on 26 March 1897 in Malvern, Victoria. He was the second of the six surviving children of Catherine (née McDonald) and John Higgins. His sister Nettie Palmer became a prominent literary critic. Their father, an accountant, was born in Ireland, as were his siblings H. B. Higgins, who served on the High Court of Australia, and Ina Higgins, a landscape architect.

Higgins attended Scotch College, Melbourne, where he was a prefect and dux.

Personal life Higgins married Marjorie Josephine Gardner on 3 January 1935. The couple had two children. He died of cancer at his home in Croydon, New South Wales, on 25 December 1960.