Jack Simons: Teacher, Scholar, Comrade

by Hugh Macmillan

Born in 1907, Jack Simons was one of the leading left-wing intellectuals – and one of the greatest teachers – in 20thcentury South Africa. As a lecturer in African Studies at the University of Cape Town from 1937 until he was prevented from teaching by the government in 1964, and thereafter through his lectures and writings in exile, he had a profound effect on the thinking of generations of white and black students and on the liberation movement as a whole.

119 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 1, 2016

About the author

The Rev. Hugh Macmillan was a 19th century Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as their Moderator of the General Assembly in 1897. He was a prolific author on theological subjects and the relationship between God and Nature. His most popular book Bible Teachings in Nature ran to 15 editions in both UK and USA and translated into several languages.

He was born on 17 September 1833 in Aberfeldy the eldest of nine children to a merchant, Alexander Macmillan, and his wife, Margaret Macfarlane. He attended school in Aberfeldy then Hill Street Academy in Edinburgh. He began an Arts degree then Medicine at Edinburgh University but dropped out and decided instead to train for the Free Church of Scotland (which had been created in 1843). He trained at New College, Edinburgh.

He was licensed to preach in January 1857 and began his ministry at the Free Church in Breadalbane. In 1859 he moved to Kirkmichael Church in Perthshire. In 1864 he moved to the Free Church of St Peter in Glasgow, a far larger charge. In 1878 he moved again to the Free Church in Greenock.

In 1871 St. Andrews University awarded him an honorary doctorate (LLD) for his writing. In 1872 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, his proposer being John Hutton Balfour. The University of Edinburgh awarded him a belated honorary doctorate (DD) in 1879 and Glasgow University gave a second DD in 1883 and made a Fellow of the Scottish Society of Antiquaries in the same year.

In 1886 he delivered the Thomson Lecture at the Free Church College in Aberdeen. In 1894 he delivered the Cunningham Lecture at New College, Edinburgh. In 1897 he gave the Gunning Lecture at Edinburgh University. In the same year he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly to the Free Church of Scotland, the highest accolade in his church. He was invited to the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Victoria in London in this capacity. The queen is said to have greatly admired his books.

He lived his final years of ministry at 70 Union Street in Greenock. In 1892 he jointly founded the Clan MacMillan Society and served as its Chief 1892 to 1896. He retired in 1901. He died at home, 2 Murrayfield Road in West Edinburgh on 24 May 1903 and is buried in Dean Cemetery. The grave lies in the first northern extension, on its southern wall, backing onto the original cemetery.