Summary

Jack (Jelesko) Grancharoff was born in Bulgaria in 1925 and emigrated to Australia after fleeing Stalinist repression. He became a key figure in Australian anarchism. For many years he was associated with the Sydney Libertarian "Push" group who referred to him as "Jack the Anarchist". In 1965 Grancharoff began publishing the anarchist journal "Red and Black" which he produced intermittently over the following three decades. He died in 2016.

Details

Grancharoff arrived in Australia in the 1950s, and, according to Takver (2002, Radical Tradition) "After a period of rural isolation he began to make contact with a broad range of radicals, bohemians and immigrants along the east coast of Australia."

In Sydney, he became involved with the Libertarian Society and the associated anti-authoritarian sub-culture which became known as "The Push". According to Anne Coombs (Sex and anarchy, 1996):

".. . Jack had given a few papers at Libertarian meetings in the Philosophy Room - one on the Catholic Church, in 1960, and another in 1964 on the German/American anarchist Johann Most, an intimate of Emma Goldman. But it was downtown that Jack had most impact. He was a downtown intellectual par excellence. He combined a keen mind and a liking for beer."

Jack Grancharoff continued his anarchist writing, publishing and activism for many decades, as demonstrated by his presentation of a paper on the limitations of Marxism as a revolutionary philosophy at the Australian National Anarchist Conference in Melbourne in 1996. He died in 2016 and by the 2020s had become an inspiration for anarchists around Australia who sought to learn from his writing and emulate his style of activism. He featured in the writings of Australian anarchists such as citizen-journalist Takver; Melbourne anti-fascist and anarchist Andy Fleming; and long-time activist and broadcaster Joe Toscano. His life and work is also documented in the anarchist-communist blog Red and Black notes.

See details of sources below.

Thanks to Eko (2022) who also quoted Coombs.

Resources

Conference Papers

• Grancharoff, Jack, 'Marxism and Anarchism', in LaTrobe University Anarchist Collective (ed.), National Anarchist Conference, LaTrobe University, Bundoora, 8-10 June, 1996., Melbourne, 9 June, 1996, p. 3. images PDF Details

Online Resources

• Jelesko Grancharoff, The Sydney Morning Herald (online), Sydney Morning Herald Tributes, 13 June, 2016, https://tributes.smh.com.au/obituaries/73928/jelesko-grancharoff/. Details
• Coombs, Anne, Sex and Anarchy: the Life and Death of the Sydney Push, Catalogue entry only, Viking, Ringwood, 1996, 340 pp, https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/21898126/version/45921997. Details
• Eko (ed.), Red and Black Notes: Red and Black: An Anarchist Journal, 2022, https://www.redblacknotes.com/anarchism-in-australia/red-and-black-an-anarchist-journal/. Details
• Fleming, Andy, 'Jack 'The Anarchist' Grancharoff (1925-2016)', 21 May, https://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=39907. PDF Details
• Grancharoff, Jack; Toscano, Joe (ed.), Jack the Anarchist (Jack Grancharoff), Several articles and other documents on Jack Grancharoff collated by Takver, 5 May, http://www.takver.com/history/sydney/grancharoff.htm. PDF Details
• James, Bob, 'Bulgarian Anarchists in Sydney', Notes from interview with George H. By Bob James. Notes dated as 1985, and published on the web by Takver in 1998., 2 February, http://www.takver.com/history/aia/aia00028.htm. PDF Details
• Takver (Editor) (ed.), Radical Tradition: An Australasian History Page: Sydney Anarchists and the Push: Jack the Anarchist (Jack Grancharoff), Takver, Melbourne, 5 May 2002, http://www.takver.com/history/sydney/grancharoff.htm#interview. PDF Details