Alex Bainbridge, Hobart
The progressive movement lost one of its truest stalwarts on December 25 when George Shenman passed away after a long illness. George had a tremendous respect for fellow human beings and devoted much of his energy to helping struggles for social justice, human rights and peace.
Both George's parents were Russian revolutionaries committed to building socialism in the Soviet Union. His father was on the Bolshevik central committee, was the first president of the state bank of the USSR and later became a Soviet diplomat.
George was born in the Soviet embassy in Berlin and considered himself "Soviet" rather than "Russian". He was always proud of his socialist upbringing and remained a socialist and an atheist all his life.
George's family moved to England in the early 1930s due to the development of Stalinism in the Soviet Union. George and his mother came out to Australia during the Second World War to escape the Nazi blitzkrieg. George was always especially sympathetic to refugees, as he himself was one.
George's involvement in political activism flourished in the 1970s. Along with his companion Doreen Shenman, he was involved in a whole range of community groups including the Hobart Peace Group, which later became People for Nuclear Disarmament.
Along with Barry Smith, George established the Hobart Human Rights Week committee, and for a long time was one of its main organisers. This committee organises a week of activities around International Human Rights Day each year. Despite ill health, George was determined to attend the December 5 human rights march only a couple of weeks before his death.
George was a long time member of the Australia-Cuba Friendship Society and the Australia-USSR Friendship Society. When officials from the Soviet embassy or visitors from the Soviet Union came to Tasmania, they would regularly meet up with George and other members of the society. He was disappointed to see the disintegration of the Soviet Union and recognised that the capitalist restoration made life harder for ordinary people.
In the 1970s, George joined the ALP, believing it was the best tool for making political change. He felt it was better to be a voice of protest within the party than to join the smaller groups outside. In later years, he and Doreen were made life members of the ALP. George continued to do his best to protest the increasingly right-wing direction taken by party leaders.
George was also a life member of the Tasmanian branch of the United Nations Association of Australia.
In recent years, George earnestly supported and drew inspiration from Tasmanians for Refugees and the Hobart Peace Coalition.
George stood passionately for an egalitarian humanitarianism and wasn't inclined to put anybody on a pedestal — especially not himself. He chose not to have a funeral because he didn't want people to make a fuss about him. He called on people to make donations to the Tasmanian Peace Trust in lieu of flowers or other tributes.
He donated his body to science. That was typical of George — down-to-earth, eschewing ceremony and always thinking about how he could help other people.
Doreen Shenman attended the Peace Coalition meeting on January 18, the first meeting we held without George. She said that George would have wanted everybody to continue the struggle. "Just keep on going", she urged on his behalf.
Certainly we will. He'll be sorely missed — what better tribute could we give him?
From Green Left Weekly, January 28, 2004.
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