Chanie Rosenberg, who died at the age of 99, has spent her life fighting the injustices that are still central to world politics today.

Born Jewish in South Africa in 1922, then part of the British Empire, she experienced the anti-Semitism which, in Europe, was accumulating in the face of the horrors of the Holocaust.

But at the same time, she witnessed the appalling anti-black racism that would become codified in the apartheid system.

Turning against the system, she became a socialist. But she still believed in the Zionist myth that a better society could be built in Palestine, which was also under British rule.

So she left South Africa and went there as World War II raged. But even before the Nakba – the catastrophic expulsion of the Palestinians in 1948 – the Zionist project involved vicious discrimination against Arabs in Palestine.

Discovering this very quickly, Chanie became a staunch anti-Zionist. This put her in touch with her lifelong partner, Tony Cliff, himself a Palestinian Jew.

Racism of all stripes flourished in the British Empire and it was clearly linked to imperialism and the capitalist system.

Until the end, Chanie explained how, from the age of 17, the international socialist revolution had been her beacon.

But for Chanie and Cliff, there was more to it than just acknowledging injustice and oppression. The question was, what could be done about it?

Answering this question was tricky. Internationally, the Communist parties which saw Joseph Stalin’s Moscow as a beacon of hope dominated the anti-capitalist left.

But it was also the time of the Moscow trials in which virtually everyone who had led the socialist revolution of 1917 was devastated.

Chanie has become a Trotskyist. This was because Leon Trotsky – assassinated on Stalin’s orders in 1940 – supported the original spirit of socialism as the liberation and self-emancipation of mankind. It was not a bureaucratic state control system.

So it was not just a political position. It was about how human life could be so much more than the drudgery, exploitation and oppression of everyday life for the majority.

Until the end, Chanie explained how, from the age of 17, the international socialist revolution had been her beacon.

Taking this step was not an easy choice in any country. The number of Trotskyists was tiny.

But being a Trotskyist in Palestine meant not only a life of crushing misery, but also courting hostility from the British authorities and rising Zionist forces.

This soon became untenable and soon after the war the couple left for Great Britain. Here the possibilities of revolutionary socialist organization were greater.

They laid the foundation for what has become the International Socialists and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP). And Chanie played a full part in that.

In terms of the theory behind the SWP, Cliff played a key role in the writings that developed Marxist thought after Trotsky. These covered how Stalinist Russia was a new type of capitalism – state capitalism. They also explained how economies temporarily achieved stability through arms spending after WWII, and the nature of the new governments in China and Cuba.

But none would have seen the light of day without Chanie. She was the breadwinner and typed the manuscripts out of Cliff’s unreadable handwriting, which he often admitted he couldn’t decipher.

Yet Chanie contributed far more than money and typing. As a union activist, she was secretary of the local Hackney association of the NUT teachers’ union.

And as an activist on a wider variety of issues, she has made her own unique contribution.

As a Palestinian refugee, Cliff’s ability to stay in Britain has always been precarious and he has had to steer clear of any engagement on the streets.

At one point he was deported to Ireland as Chanie was about to give birth to her first child.

It provided the vital link between the development of political theory and its testing and learning from practice, which is so central to Marxism. She was also a writer on subjects ranging from education to Trotsky on culture and more.

Fighting Fit: Chanie Rosenberg’s memoir shows life in struggle – from the kibbutz to the classroom

Bringing all these roles together and the difficulties of building a revolutionary tradition in the face of creeping capitalism was difficult. Add to that the education of four children, of which I am a part, and you might conclude that Chanie’s life has been one of endless sacrifice.

But that would be a serious mistake to read the truth.

Aided by indefatigable reserves of energy, it has shown that a revolutionary vision of the possible can in part transcend the alienation and disappointment of life under capitalism.

She embarked on art, even once exhibiting a sculpture at the Royal Academy. Chanie has always loved listening and playing classical music. Late in her life she learned to swim, which she then did every day in the local baths.

When the international alter-globalization movement took off there, she was, in or out of her wheelchair, in Prague, Florence or closer to home.

It was not a life of tragedy but a life of fulfillment. Indeed, she attributed her longevity and upbeat worldview to the combination of revolutionary politics and swimming in her aptly named Fighting Fit memoir.

But even this combination cannot overcome the inevitable passage of time.

Chanie’s warmth and enthusiasm will be sadly missed by her many friends and comrades.

Yet the struggles that inspired his early years now inspire millions of people to struggle around the world. Even if she is no longer there to witness it, her contribution to them remains.