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Bernhardt Oscar (Ben) Laurisch (1875–1966)

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Bernhardt Oscar Waldemar (Ben) Laurisch (1875-1966) carpenter and Communist 

Birth: 1875 at Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany, son of Johann Gottfried Laurisch (1848-1937) and Anna Fredericka Marie Anderson (1841-1900). Marriages: (1) 13 May 1897 at Finsbury Park, South Australia, to Emma Fannie, Humphris or Humphries (1875-1921). They had two daughters and four sons. (2) August 1943 at Perth to native-born Evelyn Geldert, née Austin, late Bebbington (1890-1980), a widow with two daughters. Death: 26 April 1966 in hospital at Perth, Western Australia; usual residence, Edinboro Street, Mount Hawthorn, WA. Religion: buried with Anglican rites. 

  • Arrived in Australia about 1878. Spent twenty-three years in South Australia. In 1894 was secretary of the Woodville District Mutual Improvement Society and supported the extension of the franchise to women.
  • Moved to Western Australia about 1901 and worked as a carpenter at Narrogin then Collie.
  • A strong swimmer, he was an active member of the Royal Life Saving Society, Collie branch, and was its secretary and instructor in 1912-1914. Later moved to North Perth.
  • Read widely in Marxism and drew on his experience of continental social democracy.
  • Member of the Communist Party of Australia, WA branch. Influenced unemployed on Communism.
  • Worked in youth work.
  • From the 1940s lived at Mount Hawthorn and worked as a carpenter until he retired.
  • Cause of death: bronchopneumonia (1-2 days) and chronic lymphatic leukaemia.

Sources
Stuart Macintyre, Militant: The Life and Times of Paddy Troy (Sydney, 1984), pp 35-37, 231.

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Citation details

'Laurisch, Bernhardt Oscar (Ben) (1875–1966)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/laurisch-bernhardt-oscar-ben-34304/text43043, accessed 11 May 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Birth

1875
Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

Death

26 April, 1966 (aged ~ 91)
Perth, Western Australia, Australia

Cause of Death

cancer (leukemia)

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Religious Influence

Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Occupation or Descriptor
Political Activism