Richard Clements (journalist) - Early Life

Early Life

Clements' father, Harry, was an osteopath. His mother, Sonia Edleman, was an American who had both Russian and Jewish forebears. Richard was their second son. His family were left wing in their politics. His American uncle lobbied Congress on behalf of a trade union. His mother was an anarcho-syndicalist, while his father was a pacifist who was imprisoned by the British government as a conscientious objector during the First World War.

Clements was educated at King Alfred School, Hampstead until the outbreak of the Second World War. His parents then sent him to live with his uncle in America where he was enrolled at Western High School in Washington. On his return to London he either studied briefly at the London School of Economics or at Regent Street Polytechnic. He completed his National service in the Merchant Navy.