Shapurji Saklatvala
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Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala MP |
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Member of Parliament for Battersea North |
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In office 1924–1929 |
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| Preceded by | Henry Hogbin |
| Succeeded by | William Sanders |
| Majority | 542 (1.8%) |
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In office 1922–1923 |
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| Preceded by | Richard Morris |
| Succeeded by | Henry Hogbin |
| Majority | 2,021 (9.5%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 March 1874 Bombay, British India |
| Died | 16 January 1936 (aged 61) London, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Communist Party of Great Britain |
| Alma mater | St. Xavier's College |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
Shapurji Dorabji Saklatvala (28 March 1874 – 16 January 1936) was a British politician of Indian Parsi heritage. In 1922 Saklatvala became the third ethnic Indian elected to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, following Dadabhai Naoroji and Mancherjee Bhownagree. He also was among the few members of the Communist Party of Great Britain to serve as a Member of Parliament.
Shapurji Saklatvala was born 28 March 1874 in Bombay (now Mumbai), India, the son of a merchant, Dorabji Saklatvala, and his wife Jerbai, a sister of Jamsetji (aka J.N.) Tata, the owner of India's largest commercial and industrial empire. He was educated at St. Xavier's School in Bombay before moving to St. Xavier's College for his collegiate education.
He worked briefly as an iron and coal prospector for Jamsetji Tata successfully unearthing iron ore and coal deposits in the states of Bihar and Orissa. His health suffered with malaria which led to his moving to England in 1905 to convalesce and run Tata's Manchester office. He later joined Lincoln's Inn, although he left before qualifying as a barrister.
Saklatvala was a committed socialist and first joined the Independent Labour Party (ILP) in Manchester in 1909.
The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia of November 1917 was an inspiration to Saklatvala and following the establishment of the Communist International in 1919 he became active in attempting to affiliate the ILP with that new organisation. Saklatvala joined with Emile Burns, R. Palme Dutt, J. Walton Newbold, Helen Crawfurd, and others as part of an organised faction called the Left Wing Group of the ILP which was dedicated to this effort. When the affiliation drive by Saklatvala and the ILP's left wing ended in failure in the party's March 1921 national conference, Saklatvala left the organisation with the others in the Left Wing Group to join the new Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB).
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