Salme Pekkala-Dutt (: Salme Anette Murrik) (29 August 1888 – 30 August 1964) was an Estonian-British

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, wife of

Rajani Palme Dutt Rajani may refer to: *Rajani (name), people named Rajani *Rajani (actress) (born 1965), Indian film actress * ''Rajani'' (TV series), a 1980s Indian TV series * ''Rajani'' (film), a 2009 Indian Kannada romantic comedy * ''Rajani'', an 1877 novel b ...

. The Finnish-Estonian author

Hella Wuolijoki Hella Wuolijoki (née Ella Marie Murrik; 22 July 1886 – 2 February 1954), also known by the pen name Juhani Tervapää, was an Estonian-born Finnish writer known for her ''Niskavuori'' series.Wuolijoki, Hella. Eesti Entsüklopeedia 10. Estonian ...

was her elder sister. Murrik was also grandaunt of Finnish Social Democratic politician

Erkki Tuomioja Erkki Sakari Tuomioja (born 1 July 1946) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament. From 2000 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015, he served as the minister for foreign affairs. He was president of the Nordic Council in 2008. Tuomioja ...

. Salme Murrik was born in

Helme Parish ) , leader_name = Tarmo Tamm , area_total_km2 = 312.73 , population_total = 2525 , population_as_of = 01.01.2009 , population_density_km2 = auto , website www.helme.ee Helme Parish ( et ...

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

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. ...

(present-day

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

), and spent her childhood in Valga. She was expelled from the A.S.

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

Gymnasium in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

due to her participation in the

Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

, and moved to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, and to

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

, and

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

before settling in Britain. Her first husband was notable Finnish left wing politician

Eino Pekkala Eino Oskari Pekkala (29 November 1887 − 30 September 1956) was a Finnish lawyer and politician. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Socialist Electoral Organisation of Workers and Smallholders 1927–1930 and the Fin ...

, brother of

Mauno Pekkala Mauno Pekkala (27 January 1890 – 30 June 1952) was a Finnish statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister from 1946 to 1948. Pekkala was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland and member of several wartime cabinets as Min ...

. During the early years of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPG ...

, Murrik, a

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

agent, acted as Dutt's link to Moscow.David Harker, Tressell
/ref> Salme Murrik had been directed to Britain on

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 19 ...

's orders to participate in forming the Communist Party there. She remained an ardent admirer of Stalin even after Khruschchev's 1956 secret speech critical of Stalin's cult of personality. Salme Dutt's treatment of the Chartist movement, ''When England Arose'', was published in 1939. A collection of poems, entitled ''Lucifer and Other Poems'', was published in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1966. Salme Dutt died in the city in 1964.

Notes

References

Lausti.com

Valgark.ee

Bibliography

*John Callaghan “Rajani Palme Dutt, British communism, and the Communist Party of India″ - ''Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics'', Volume 6, Issue 1 March 1990, pages 49 – 70 *Andrew Thorpe ''The British Communist Party and Moscow 1920-43'', Manchester University Press, 308 s., Midsomer Norton 2000 *Erkki Tuomioja ''Häivähdys punaista'' Helsinki:Tammi, 2006 (Swedish translation: ''Ett stänk av rött: två systrar i revolutionens tjänst'' Stockholm, 2008, Estonian: ''Õrnroosa: Hella Wuolijoe ja Salme Dutti elu revolutsiooni teenistuses'', Tallinn, 2006, the English manuscript is entitled ''A delicate shade of pink'') {{DEFAULTSORT:Pekkala-Dutt, Salme 1888 births 1964 deaths People from Tõrva Parish People from the Governorate of Livonia British Comintern people Communist Party of Great Britain members Anti-revisionists Estonian communists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom