Charles Dirba

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Charles Dirba AKA Kārlis Dirba (1887–1969) was a Latvian-American co-founder of the Communist Party of America (CPA) and Communist Party USA (CPUSA).[1]

Background

Charles Dirba was born on January 14, 1887. He studied at Kalnciema Pagastskola, Riga Polytechnic Institute.[1]

Career

In 1903, Dirba joined the Social Democrats and by 1905 a revolutionary. In 1907, he emigrated to the United States and by 1908 had joined the Socialist Party of America.

In 1919, Dirba was a co-founder of the Communist Party of America (CPA), following negotiations with Alfred Wagenknecht of the rival United Communist Party. He was at the 1922 Bridgman Convention. By the end of 1922, a single Workers Party of America had emerged. In 1928, he served as secretary of the Central Committee of the Party's Latvian Group through 1939. In 1929, he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party USA (successor to the CPA). During the Scottsboro Boys Case, Diba served as assistant secretary of the International Labor Defense (ILD).[2] In 1946, he became a member of the Los Angeles section of the CPUSA through 1950. In 1947, the Lativan-American newspaper Draugas called Dirba "an extremely shadowy figure who is the confidential agent of the all-powerful Comintern in the western hemisphere, according to Igor Gouzenko, former cipher clerk in the Soviet embassy in Ottawa."[3] In 1962, he was a member of the American Latvian Workers' Union through 1969. [1]

Death

Dirba died age 82 on February 23, 1969.[1]

Works

Dirba served as fourth and final editor of Amerikas Cīņa (Struggle of America) (1926–1934),[4][5] the official Latvian organ of the Workers Party of America and the American Latvian Workers' Union .[4]

  • "Letter to the United Communist Party in New York" (1920)[6]
  • "Letter to 'Comrade Stepan' in Moscow" (1921)[7]
  • "Memories of C.E. Ruthenberg" (1940)[8]

See also

Reference

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Anderson, "Latvians," in Hoerder with Harzig (eds.), The Immigrant Labor Press in North America, 1840s-1970s, vol. 2, pp. 197-198.
  5. ↑ Robert Mirak, "Armenians," in Dirk Hoerder with Christiane Harzig (eds.), The Immigrant Labor Press in North America, 1840s-1970s: Volume 2: Migrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987; pp. 532-533.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

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