Myrtle Solomon

She was general secretary of the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), a British pacifist organisation, between 1965 and 1972, and chair of the War Resisters International (WRI) between 1975 and 1986.

[1] Before the Second World War her parents played an important role in helping Jewish refugees escape from Germany and Austria.

[2] After the war Myrtle Solomon joined a group called “Women for Westminster” that campaigned on feminist issues and it was here she met Sybil Morrison, a fellow lesbian, who was an active pacifist and a member of the Peace Pledge Union: “I admired her very much and learned a lot from her, and it seemed quite natural to me to become a pacifist then.”[2] They became close friends and were living together at the time of Morrison's death in 1984.

To justify a totally illusory need, a whole new language has been invented by a sick society dominated by its weaponry.”[2] Myrtle Solomon was also a Trustee of the Lansbury House Trust Fund (LHTF).

She bequeathed money to LHTF for the establishment of the Myrtle Solomon Memorial Fund to compile, publish and maintain an international survey on compulsory military service and on provisions for conscientious objection.