Hewlett Johnson

Hewlett Johnson ( born January 25, 1874 in Manchester, † October 22, 1966 in London) was an Anglican clergyman. As dean of the Cathedral of Canterbury from 1931 to 1961 he was known as " the Red Dean of Canterbury ".

Life

Johnson, son of a laborer, worked from 1895 as an engineer in a locomotive factory, where it won colleagues for socialism. In 1900 he began to study theology at Oxford and worked after ordination to the diaconate in 1905 in the parish of Altrincham near Manchester. For his commitment to Marxism, he was monitored by MI5 since 1917. In 1924 he was Dean ( Dean ) at the Manchester Cathedral. In 1931 he was appointed on a proposal from Ramsay MacDonald to the Dean of Canterbury. Only 89 years of age he joined in 1961 by this office back.

Johnson, who was a follower of religious socialism and unconditional supporters of the Soviet Union, became known when he joined the five-year plans with the contrasted the developments in the Soviet Union in the West during the Great Depression. He traveled in 1934 and a second time in 1937 in the Soviet Union. In 1945 he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1951 with the International Stalin Prize for the consolidation of peace between peoples.

Works

• One-sixth of the Earth, 1947 ( passim ); English: The Socialist Sixth of the World ( online resource )
• Searching for Light ( autobiography ), 1968