---
title: "Harold Blackham (1903-2009)"
date: "2009-02-09T09:00:40+00:00"
modified: "2009-09-19T22:28:14+01:00"
url: "https://andrewcopson.com/2009/02/harold-blackham-1903-2009/"
post_id: 42
categories: ["Blog"]
---

# Harold Blackham (1903-2009)

H J Blackham was an amazing man and my obituary of him appears in today’s *Guardian* on page 34 – it is [now available online](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/feb/09/obituary-harold-blackman-humanist "Harold Blackham").

Other obituaries have appeared in [*The Independent*](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/harold-blackham-philosopher-and-the-first-head-of-the-british-humanist-association-1665264.html "Independent Obituary") and [*The Times*](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article5600211.ece "Times Obituary") and if you’ve never read any of HJB’s books you should [definitely try him](http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?an=harold+blackham&bt.x=0&bt.y=0&sortby=3&sts=t "Blackham's books") and there’s a [good anthology available from the BHA](http://www.humanism.org.uk/shop/46 "Blackham's Best").

Of course, his greatest monuments are the organisations he founded: the [British Humanist Association](http://www.humanism.org.uk "BHA"), the [International Humanist and Ethical Union](http://www.iheu.org "IHEU") and the [Journal of Moral Education](http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/03057240.asp "JME") amongst others.