Michael John Carritt was a British communist revolutionary, spy, university lecturer, and a supporter of Indian independence. After graduating from Oxford University, Carritt joined the British Empire's Indian Civil Service. While working for the Civil Service, Carritt became a communist after witnessing the brutality of the British colonial occupation of India. Carritt became a double-agent for the Communist Party of India (CPI), secretly supplying them with information to help them resist British colonialism. After returning from India, he helped the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) develop their policies concerning Indian independence, and he taught philosophy for the Workers Education Association in Brighton, and later for Oxford University and the University of Sussex.

Noel Carritt (1910–1992) was a British communist activist, teacher, and volunteer for the International Brigades. He was born into the Carritt family, known for their Marxist and anti-fascist politics which heavily influenced him. As a young man, he saved German Jewish activist Liesel Carritt from being deported to Nazi Germany by agreeing to enter into a marriage of convenience.