Edward Cecil-Smith (1903-1963)  

Plaque Text

Edward Cecil-Smith was the highest-ranking Canadian to fight for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War against the fascist-backed Nationalists.
Born in China to British missionary parents, Cecil-Smith came to Canada in 1919 and worked as a banker and journalist. During the Great Depression, he joined the Communist Party of Canada and the Friends of the Soviet Union.
To raise awareness about the imprisonment of Communist Party leadership in Kingston, Ontario, Cecil-Smith co-wrote the play Eight Men Speak. It was performed just once, in Toronto, in December 1933 before it was banned by federal, provincial, and municipal authorities for its pro-Communist message.
Lilian Gouge married Cecil-Smith, and they lived in this building from 1936 to 1942. While here, Gouge caught tuberculosis. She received treatment from Norman Bethune, a surgeon who became a national hero in China for his medical work with the Chinese Communists during the Second World War.
Like many appalled by the rise of fascism, Cecil-Smith fought in the Spanish Civil War, leading the Mackenzie-Papineau Battalion from 1937 to 1939.
During the Second World War, Cecil-Smith briefly served in the Canadian Active Service Force and later distanced himself from the Communist Party. His later career was spent as an editor of mainstream magazines in Montreal.