Activist and organizer, Léa Roback was born on November 03, 1903 in Montreal, the second of nine children of Polish Jewish immigrants. She spent her childhood in Beauport, Quebec where her parents ran a general store. The Robacks spoke Yiddish at home; outside it was French or English and Léa was able to switch freely between languages, a skill that was useful in work with labour organizations. When Léa was fourteen the family returned to Montreal where she began working two years later at various Montreal factories. There she became aware of the inequality between Montreal?s ruling English-speaking families and the mostly French and Jewish working class. In the mid-1920s, Léa spent a couple of years at the University of Grenoble in France, supporting herself by privately teaching English to students. In 1928, Léa joined her older brother Harry in Berlin where he was studying medicine. She enrolled at the University of Berlin studying Sociology and German. Léa became involved with leftwing student groups and eventually joined the Communist Party. In 1932 Léa returned to Montreal, finding work as a youth group director at the Young Women?s Hebrew Association, where her mentor was Saidye Bronfman, wife of Sam Bronfman. In 1935 she managed the Modern Bookshop on Bleury Street, the first Marxist bookstore in Quebec, which became a gathering place for local radicals. That same year Léa coordinated Fred Rose?s bid for election. Eight years later, Rose became the first communist elected to the House of Commons. In 1936 she was recruited by Thérèse Casgrain, legendary women?s suffrage leader, to assist in her work in obtaining the vote for women in Quebec. Léa also became involved with the International Ladies Garment Workers? Union during their attempts to improve conditions in the needle trade. In 1937, Léa was a leader ? along with organizers such as Rose Pesotta and Bernard Shane ? in organizing over 5,000 women who walked off the job from the garment industry factories of Montreal. During the war years, being too militant for the ILGWU, she took a job at R.C.A. and became an organizer for the United Electrical Workers, becoming business agent for the 3,000 R.C.A. workers in Montreal. Léa was married to the cause of human rights for the majority of her life. She joined organizations in Montreal that consumed her enthusiasm and energy ? Québec Aid to the Partially Sighted; the Voice of Women anti-nuclear and anti-war groups. She was always there within the ranks passing out leaflets, speaking, urging, explaining, marching in protests and demonstrations.