ARNO RABINOWITZ died at the weekend. He had been one of Inside Croydon’s earliest and staunchest of supporters, and one of our most frequent and most sage of comment writers, even gracing the pages of Croydon Commentary on occasion. Here, his neighbour and party colleague, Jerry Fitzpatrick, pays tribute to his old friend

Arno Rabinowitz, 1934-2024

Fifty years ago, Arnold Rabinowitz was on a list of names I was given from whom I was to collect their Labour Party membership subscription. He handed over his 50p, had a chat, and I have been a friend and neighbour of Arno and Gwen since that time.

Arno was born and educated in South Africa, his parents immigrant Jews from eastern Europe, his father Russian and his mother Ukrainian. Arno was brought up in the Jewish faith but by adulthood he was utterly secular.

A paternal uncle was an active Communist and fierce opponent of the apartheid state and occasionally called upon young Arno to assist in the conduct of a dangerous errand.

Arno’s own politics were not far left. Like many young adults in the 1950s, he embraced ideas of equality and internationalism, but not of command economies and authoritarian state control. He remained consistent in his outlook.

As a student, he had written for his university newspaper, and expressed as much irreverence for the leaders of society as he felt he could get away with. There was never any evidence of his gaining greater reverence with age. He detested the pompous and officious.

In retirement, he did some consultancy for a well-known independent school. Lunching with the head and senior teachers, he addressed the head by his first name, Fred. An underling whispered that the head was to be addressed as Headmaster. Unabashed, Arno immediately called out: “Pass the potatoes down, please, Fred.” It was his last visit to the school.

Arno had a distinguished professional career. Having come to Britain in the mid-1950s, he qualified as a teacher specialising in special needs education, rose quickly to becoming head of a school. He qualified as an educational psychologist and joined a large and well-resourced team in the Inner London Education Authority.

By the time of Thatcher’s abolition of the GLC and ILEA in 1986, Arno was the chief of his department. He was at the cutting edge of developments, deploying new technologies to enable children with special needs to develop their full potential. I was a young ILEA teacher myself during this period and know of pupils whose lives were changed positively by his work.

Upon abolition of the ILEA, Arno became a consultant. A notable part of his work was done at the first Harris school in Upper Norwood, where he developed good practice in providing effective support for dyslexic pupils, a greatly neglected area at that time.

Arno also enjoyed medico-legal work, often being brought in as an expert witness by parents of children with special needs who were not getting the provision they needed. Working in the interests of these children lit a fire in Arno much greater than working in the interests of the state.

Arno was a doer. He was always positive. Always optimistic. I don’t recall ever seeing Arno glum.

In his last years, he suffered a range of serious medical problems, including a rare and terminal cancer. He took on and spoke of these problems as if they were slightly difficult friends whom one might win round with suitable energy and tenacity.

He underwent a gruelling experimental programme of immunotherapy at the Royal Marsden, and regaled friends with amusing details of it. His admiration for the work of the Marsden team was very high.

Arno featured in a Labour Party election leaflet as recently as this April. Until mid-September, he maintained the energy and zest for life of a 20-year-old.

The remarkable Arno is survived by Gwen, his wife of 64 years, two sons and six grandchildren. They and his family and friends in the local community and across five continents have suffered a great loss.

• Arnold Ivan Rabinowitz, January 1934 to November 2024

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