Biography by Years

1934Born on 3rd August in Bulawayo, Rhodesia to Rachel & Ben Baron.
1945Having shown an unusual interest and delight in music from a very early age, formed a music appreciation club to learn about famous composers and classical music.
1948Started to paint.
1949Matriculated with 5 distinctions at Milton High School, Bulawayo.
1951Awarded a Beit Scholarship and a Southern Rhodesia Scholarship to study at university.
1951Won a Rhodes Trustees Literary Prize for an essay about the musician Sibelius.
1951-
1956
Studied at Cape Town University, South Africa for B.A. L.L.B. degree. Elected to Students Representative Council and was Chairman of N.U.S.A.S. (The National Union of South African Students). Principal of Night School at Retreat run by students for deprived Coloured and African people including serving on the executive of the Cape Non-Europeans Night School Association. It was there that his over-riding concern and compassion manifested for the suffering and under privileged of all races, colours and creeds. He was gentle and hated violence and became an ardent and outspoken opponent and critic of racialism, oppression and injustice – characteristics which were to dominate his life. He organized a Musical Appreciation Club at Smuts Residence Hall at the university.
1954Commenced exhibiting his paintings regularly in Southern Africa.
1957Graduated and began practising as a lawyer in the legal firm of Ben Baron & Partners in Bulawayo.
1960-
1986
Art Exhibitions:   Had 11 One Man Exhibitions of his paintings in Bulawayo, Salisbury, Johannesburg, Pretoria, 3 of which were retrospective exhibitions after his death; 5 exhibitions with 1-4 other artists and his works were exhibited on all the National Gallery of Rhodesia Annual Exhibitions in Salisbury and Bulawayo; and on all the Rhodesian Society of Artists’ Exhibitions from 1968 – 1976. 1969 & 1970: Works purchased by the National Gallery of Rhodesia for Permanent Collection.
1962-
1977
Was Music Critic for the Bulawayo newspaper The Chronicle
1966
1967
1968
The late Ben Shahn, a world renowned American artist and a 1st cousin of Marshall’s father, was most impressed with his artistic talent and awarded him a scholarship for three years – 1966, 1968 and 1969 – to the Annual Young Artists Summer School at Skowhegan in Maine, USA. He studied at Skowhegan with artists Elmer Bishoff, Isabel Bishop, Ron Bladen, James Brooks, Henry Callighan, Al Held, Sidney Hurwitz, Gabriel Laderman, Richard Lidner, Walter Munch, Philip Perlstein, et al.
1967Featured in Critique, a television programme dealing with aspects of the arts, produced in Bulawayo and became a sought after as a public speaker.
1968Founder member of the Rhodesian Society of Artists and subsequent Chairman in 1976. Each year also attended the Annual Camp of the National Music Camp Association of which he was a committee member.
1972Designed and executed original sets for the ballet “Nnogawuse”.
1974In the 1970’s played an active role in the liberal Central African Party and Centre Party and stood as an independent candidate for the Matobo constitutency in the General Election in 1974.
1977Died suddenly on 3rd May in Bulawayo at the age of 42.

Hobbies: He pursued the study of music and art as hobbies.

Recreations: mountaineering, long distance running, yoga and he read profusely on many subjects including a study of Comparative Religions in later years.