Moissaye Joseph Olgin (24 March 1878 – 22 November 1939) was a Ukrainian-born writer, journalist, and translator in the early 20th century. He began his career writing for the Jewish press in support of the
Russian Revolution in 1910. During the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he moved to the United States in 1915, settling in New York City, where he continued his career in journalism. Much of his work was in support of communism, and he was a founding member of the
Workers Party. In 1922, he founded ''
The Morning Freiheit'', and served as its editor until his death in 1939.
Early life
Moissaye Joseph Olgin was born on March 24, 1878 in Buki,
Kyiv Governorate
Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...
(then part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
) to Chaim Aaron Novominsky and Tsipe (Gelman) Novominsky, both of whom were of ethnic
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
origins.
[Lawrence Kestenbaum (ed.)]
"Moissaye Olgin,"
The Political Graveyard.com Retrieved November 2, 2009. His father worked as a lumber camp employee.
[Solon DeLeon with Irma C. Hayssen and Grace Poole, ''The American Labor Who's Who.'' New York: Hanford Press, 1925; pp. 178–179.]
Olgin received a traditional education in Hebrew. After a short period of self-study, he began his studies at the
University of Kyiv
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
in 1900.
He was sympathetic to the causes of the
Russian Revolution, and first became active in the underground revolutionary movement during his studies at the University of Kyiv. His writings for Jewish and revolutionary publications earned him some fame among the many
Russian Jews
The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...
, who were heavily oppressed by the government of
Tsar Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
. He took part in a Jewish revolutionary student group known as "Freiheit" (Freedom).
In 1901 Olgin was elected chairman of the Students Central Committee. The tsarist regime ordered his arrest in April 1903 on a charge of organizing Jewish self-defense groups against anticipated
pogroms.
[The Staff of the Morning Freiheit]
''M.J. Olgin (1878–1939)''
from ''M.J. Olgin: Leader and Teacher.'' New York: Workers Library Publishers, December 1939. Retrieved February 26, 2009.
In 1904, Olgin left the University of Kyiv and went to
Vilno
Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...
as a member of the Vilno Committee of the Jewish
Bund. There he was arrested but released on bail. He then became a member of the editorial board of the Arbeiter Stimme (Labor's Voice). He was the author of all the proclamations issued by the Central Committee of the Bund during the Revolution of 1905 while at the same time he prepared literary compositions for the illegal Jewish press. While editing newspapers and working with these underground organizations he also wrote books, short stories and literary essays.
In 1907, he traveled to Germany to continue his studies at the
University of Heidelberg
}
Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...
. He continued his studies there until 1910, when he returned to Russia.
Traveling in Germany at the onset of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he was unable to return to Russia, and immigrated to the United States in 1915.
Career
Shortly after arriving in the United States, Olgin became a regular contributor to the Jewish daily newspaper ''
The Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...
''.
Olgin became an American citizen in April 1920. He was a leading member of the
Jewish Socialist Federation
The Jewish Socialist Federation (JSF) was a secular Jewish Yiddish-oriented organization founded in 1912 which acted as a language federation in the Socialist Party of America (SPA). Many of the founding members of the JSF had previously been memb ...
of the
Socialist Party of America and was influential in leading the JSF out of the party at a special convention of the organization held in September 1921. Together with other defecting members of the JSF, Olgin thereafter entered the fledgling
Workers Council
A workers' council or labor council is a form of political and economic organization in which a workplace or municipality is governed by a council made up of workers or their elected delegates. The workers within each council decide on what thei ...
organization, a small group of
revolutionary socialists
The Revolutionary Socialists ( ar, الاشتراكيون الثوريون; ) (RS) are a Trotskyist organisation in Egypt originating in the tradition of 'Socialism from Below'. Leading RS members include sociologist Sameh Naguib. The organisatio ...
which rejected the conspiratorial "underground" form of organization of the then extant communist movement. Olgin ceased contributing to ''The Forward'' at this same time.
In April 1922, there was launched a new
Yiddish-language
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
newspaper, the Daily ''Freiheit'' (later the ''
Morning Freiheit''). Olgin served as first editor of this publication, a position which he retained up until the time of his death.
[William Z. Foster and Earl Browder, "Moissaye Joseph Olgin: March 24, 1878 – November 22, 1939: Statement of the National Committee, Communist Party of the USA," ''The Communist,'' vol. 18, no. 12 (December 1939), p. 1138.] He also contributed frequently to the Communist Party's English-language newspaper, ''The Daily Worker,'' and served as a special correspondent for the
Soviet Communist Party's daily, ''Pravda.''
At the end of December 1922, the Workers Council group was among the organizations which were united into the
Workers Party of America
The Workers Party of America (WPA) was the name of the legal party organization used by the Communist Party USA from the last days of 1921 until the middle of 1929.
Background
As a legal political party, the Workers Party accepted affiliation fr ...
(WPA), a new "legal political party" affiliated with the underground Communist Party of America, and Olgin thereby entered the formal communist movement for the first time. Olgin was named to the governing Bureau of the Jewish Federation of this new organization. Olgin was a member of the governing Central Executive Committee of the WPA and its Executive Council from the time of the organization's formation.
Olgin was a frequent candidate for political office on behalf of the Communist Party. He first ran in 1924, when he was a candidate for
New York State Assembly on the ticket of the Workers Party.
He ran for
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...
in 1926, 1930, and 1934, and for New York Assembly again in 1927, 1929, 1933, and 1936.
Although a bitter rival of
Alexander Bittelman
Alexander "Alex" Bittelman (1890–1982) was a Russian-born Jewish-American communist political activist, Marxist theorist, influential theoretician of the Communist Party USA and writer. A founding member, Bittelman is best remembered as the chi ...
in the heated factional politics of the Jewish Federation in the early 1920s, by the middle of the decade, Olgin had emerged as a supporter of the political faction that was headed by
William Z. Foster,
Earl Browder, and his former foe.
Olgin made several trips to the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. In 1937, he went to Paris as delegation to the International Yiddish Culture Congress which founded the World Alliance for Jewish Culture (YCUF). While in Paris, he addressed the Writers Congress.
Death and legacy
Following his trip to Paris, Olgin's health began to decline. After almost two years' illness, during which Olgin continued his work for the ''Freiheit'', as well as for the ''
Daily Worker
The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in New York City by the Communist Party USA, a formerly Comintern-affiliated organization. Publication began in 1924. While it generally reflected the prevailing views of the party, attempts were ...
'' and as the American correspondent for ''
Pravda
''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...
'',
he had apparently improved in health enough to appear at
Madison Square Garden, on November 13, for his first public speech in several years.
Following the speech, his health again declined, and he died at his home of a heart attack on November 22, 1939. He was buried in
New Montefiore Cemetery
New Montefiore Cemetery is a Judaism, Jewish cemetery located in West Babylon, New York.
History
Montefiore Cemetery Corporation had been maintaining Montefiore Cemetery in Springfield Gardens, Queens since 1908. The corporation bought 250 acres ...
near
Farmingdale, New York
Farmingdale is an incorporated village on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York. The population was 8,189 as of the 2010 Census.
The Lenox Hills neighborhood is adjacent to Bethpage State Park and the rest of the ...
.
Olgin was the author of numerous books and pamphlets in seven languages: English, Russian, German, French, Polish, Hebrew and Yiddish. It is not known whether some of these works were, in fact, translated by others. He wrote verse, essays, literary criticism and sociological studies. His books ''The Soul of the Russian Revolution'' and ''A Guide to Russian Literature'' and pamphlet ''Why Communism?'' achieved sales of nearly half a million in several languages.
Olgin translated several volumes of
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
's collected works from Russian into English;
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels ( ,["Engels"](_blank)
'' The Peasant War in Germany
''The Peasant War in Germany'' (German: ''Der deutsche Bauernkrieg'') by Friedrich Engels is a short account of the early-16th-century uprisings known as the German Peasants' War (1524–1525). It was written by Engels in London during the sum ...
'' from German into
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
;
John Reed's ''
Ten Days That Shook the World
''Ten Days That Shook the World'' (1919) is a book by the American journalist and socialist John Reed. Here, Reed presented a firsthand account of the 1917 Russian October Revolution. Reed followed many of the most prominent Bolsheviks closely ...
'' from English into Yiddish; a volume of short stories from
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
into Yiddish; two volumes of tales of
Mendele Mocher Sforim
Mendele Mocher Sforim ( yi, , he, מנדלי מוכר ספרים, also known as Moykher, Sfarim; lit. "Mendele the book peddler"; January 2, 1836, Kapyl – December 8, 1917 .S. Odessa), born Sholem Yankev Abramovich ( yi, , russian: Соло ...
, the father of Jewish literature, from Hebrew into Yiddish; and
Jack London
John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
's ''
Call of the Wild'' from English into Yiddish.
Selected works
''The Soul of the Russian Revolution.''New York: Henry Holt, 1917.
''A Guide to Russian Literature (1820–1917).''New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920.
* ''The Socialist Party, Last Bulwark of Capitalism.'' New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1932.
* ''Capitalism Defends Itself through the Socialist Labor Party.'' New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1932.
New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1933.
''Maxim Gorky: Writer and Revolutionist.''New York: International Publishers, 1933.
* ''The Way Out: A Program for American Labor.'' New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1934.
New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
* ''Life and Teachings of Friedrich Engels.'' New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1935.
''Lenin and the Bolsheviki.''New York: Revolutionary Workers League, 1936. — Reprinted from ''Asia,'' vol. 17, no. 10 (December 1917).
* ''That Man Browder: Communist Candidate for President.'' New York: Workers Library Publishers, 1936.
References
External links
at
Marxists Internet Archive
Marxists Internet Archive (also known as MIA or Marxists.org) is a non-profit online encyclopedia that hosts a multilingual library (created in 1990) of the works of communist, anarchist, and socialist writers, such as Karl Marx, Friedrich Eng ...
. Retrieved November 2, 2009.
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olgin, Moissaye
1878 births
1939 deaths
People from Kyiv Oblast
American communists
American male journalists
American Marxists
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American translators
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States
Jewish socialists
Marxist writers
Members of the Communist Party USA
Russian Jews
Ukrainian Jews
Russian revolutionaries
Yiddish-language writers
20th-century translators
Burials at New Montefiore Cemetery