In Memoriam: Jan Diakow

It is with deep sadness that RCPB(ML) announces the death of one of its most loyal supporters, Jan Diakow, who passed away on December 17 aged 61. The Party extends its most profound condolences to his much-loved daughter, to all his family and to his many friends and comrades in his many fields of activity.

Jan Diakow was born in London on July 1, 1945. An accountant by profession in his later years, he was in earlier times a professional jazz musician of some distinction. In recent years, with his daughter, he also immersed himself in progressive DJ-ing. He was very widely respected in the entire field of arts and culture.

Jan was a political activist. With his wife Jenny he was a pioneer organiser of the Claimants Union, fighting tirelessly for the interests of the working people of his locality. In 1974, he was an activist of the Communist Party of England (Marxist-Leninist) in its election campaign on a platform of denouncing the fraud of bourgeois elections, as well as opposing state-organised racist and fascist attacks and imperialist war. Along with four comrades he was the victim of a vicious and planned attack by the state in co-operation with fascists. He was arrested and after two highly dubious trials imprisoned. In prison Jan, like his comrades, refused to wear prison uniform and never capitulated in the face of brutal treatment by the prison authorities. Such heroic action characterised the man and showed his mettle. He continued to display such unswerving courage in all of his subsequent, if less dramatic, activities. He was a loyal friend and supporter of RCPB(ML) from its founding in 1979 until his last days, providing invaluable assistance on various fronts.

Jan Diakow will be sorely missed. He was always the most loyal of friends, a man of conviction and integrity, and a unifying force. To the very last, even when very ill, he displayed a joy of living, an infectious enthusiasm for everything progressive and a concern for the people which will always be remembered.