Dellinger, David (1915–2004)

US pacifist, peace activist, editor, and author. He was jailed for draft resistance during World War II and was an outspoken opponent of US involvement in Vietnam. He published widely, promoting pacifism and nonviolence.

He was born in Wakefield, Massachusetts and graduated from Yale University, prior to studying at Oxford University, Yale Divinity School, and Union Theological Seminary. His passionate pacifism would lead him to the forefront of militant, nonviolent activism. Upon his release from jail in 1945 he formed the Libertarian Press printing cooperative. In 1956 he became editor and publisher of Liberation, a major voice of radical pacifism. He was an important link to the North Vietnamese government and facilitated the release of US prisoners of war. He was jailed again for being the leader of an antiwar demonstration that erupted into a riot in Chicago, but his conviction was overturned. He became editor of Seven Days magazine (1975–80). In the 1980s he moved to Vermont to teach and write. His books include Revolutionary Nonviolence (1970), More Power Than We Know (1975), and From Yale to Jail (1993).