Charles Curtiss (1908–1993) was an American

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

. Born on July 4, 1908, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

as Samuel Kurz, the son of poor immigrants from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, he changed his name to Charles Curtiss and earned his living by working as a miner and sailor, before finally becoming a skilled printer. In 1928, Charles Curtiss joined the Communist League of America, the Trotskyist movement led by James P. Cannon. As a printer, Curtiss took responsibility for producing the movement's weekly paper ''

The Militant ''The Militant'' is an international socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Pathfinder Press. It is published in the United States and distributed in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Aus ...

''. In 1932, Curtiss moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to build the Trotskyist movement on the West Coast. In 1938, the Communist League became the Socialist Workers Party. Charles Curtiss, who was fluent in Spanish, was repeatedly sent as a representative of the American Trotskyist movement to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the 1930s. There he was known as Carlos Curtiss. He also visited

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

Coyoacán Coyoacán ( , ) is a borough (''demarcación territorial'') in Mexico City. The former village is now the borough's "historic center". The name comes from Nahuatl and most likely means "place of coyotes", when the Aztecs named a pre-Hispanic vil ...

several times. From June 1939 to August 1940, Curtiss lived in the Trotsky household and his wife, Lillian Ilstien, who he had married in 1935, served as secretary for Trotsky's wife

Natalia Sedova Natalia Ivanovna Sedova (russian: Ната́лья Ива́новна Седо́ва; 5 April 1882 Romny, Russian Empire – 23 January 1962, Corbeil-Essonnes, Paris, France) is best known as the second wife of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutio ...

. Charles Curtiss functioned as Trotsky's primary link with the Mexican Trotskyists. It would have been illegal and unwise under the terms on which Trotsky was granted asylum in Mexico for Trotsky to maintain direct political contact with radical communist revolutionaries in his host country. Curtiss also tried to resolve the personal differences between Trotsky and the famous Mexican artist

Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...

. Charles Curtiss was not present on August 20, 1940, when Trotsky was attacked and killed by the

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

agent

Ramón Mercader Jaime Ramón Mercader del Río (7 February 1913 – 18 October 1978),Photograph oMercader's Gravestone/ref> more commonly known as Ramón Mercader, was a Spanish communist and NKVD agent, who assassinated Russian Bolshevik revolutionary Leon Tr ...

, who had infiltrated the household, but it is said that Curtiss had always been suspicious of Mercader and had warned Trotsky to be careful around him. After the assassination of Trotsky, Curtiss and his wife returned to the United States and the Socialist Workers Party, living and working in Los Angeles for a couple of years. When 18 of the SWP's most prominent leaders, including James P. Cannon,

Farrell Dobbs Farrell Dobbs (July 25, 1907 – October 31, 1983) was an American Trotskyist, trade unionist, politician, and historian. Early years Dobbs was born in Queen City, Missouri, where his father was a worker in a coal company garage. The family ...

and

Carl Skoglund Carl Skoglund (April 10, 1884 – December 11, 1960) was a Swedish-American socialist, affectionately called ''Skogie'' by all his American friends and comrades. He was born in Dalsland and went to the United States in 1911, sailing in steerage firs ...

, were sentenced to jail according to the

Smith Act The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3d session, ch. 439, , is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28, 1940. It set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of th ...

, for opposing US involvement in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Charles Curtiss moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to help take over the leadership of the party. However, Curtiss was soon drafted into the US army and sent to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

to fight in the war. After the war, Curtiss returned to the Socialist Workers Party, but he left the party in 1951. However, his wife Lillian remained in the SWP for many years. Charles Curtiss died of heart failure in Los Angeles on December 20, 1993.

External links

The Lubitz TrotskyanaNet
provides a biographical sketch and a selective bibliography on Charles Curtiss {{DEFAULTSORT:Curtiss, Charles 1908 births 1993 deaths People from Chicago Members of the Communist League of America Members of the Workers Party of the United States Members of the Socialist Party of America Members of the Socialist Workers Party (United States)