Zelda Kahan (1886 – 1969) was a 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 ...

. Born into a Jewish family in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 1886, Kahan's family were forced to emigrate, and she moved to Britain at an early age. The Kahans lived at 6

Clapton Square Clapton Square is the second largest garden square in the London Borough of Hackney, located in Lower Clapton, Clapton, London, Clapton. It is lined by buildings on three sides. Its Conservation Area designated in 1969 – extended in 1 ...

in Hackney, London. She became an active socialist and joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

(SDF). Within the SDF, she was a leading opponent of

Ernest Belfort Bax Ernest Belfort Bax (; 23 July 1854 – 26 November 1926) was an English barrister, journalist, philosopher, men's rights advocate, socialist, and historian. Biography Ernest Belfort Bax was born on 23 July 1854, in Leamington Spa, son of Danie ...

's anti-feminism, and an ardent anti-militarist. After a resolution she proposed to the conference of the SDF's successor, the

British Socialist Party The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of factional struggle, in 1916 the party's anti-war forces gained decisive control of the party and saw t ...

, was approved against the wishes of the party leadership, she was elected to its executive. She worked alongside

Theodore Rothstein Theodore Rothstein (russian: Фёдор Аронович Ротштейн, ''Fyodor Aronovich Rotshteyn''; 14 February 1871 30 August 1953) was a Soviet politician, journalist, writer and communist. He served as a Soviet ambassador in the 1920s. ...

in opposition to

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 ...

, and supported the foundation 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 ...

(CPGB). Kahan married fellow communist

William Peyton Coates William Peyton "Pat" Coates (1883, Kinsale – 8 August 1963) was an Irish labour activist and communist who was active in the sphere of Anglo-Soviet relations. In 1901 he took a clerical position on the railways in 1901, and by 1903 was a membe ...

(died 8 Aug 1963), and became known as Zelda Coates. Together, they set up the

Anglo-Russian Parliamentary Committee The Anglo-Russians were an English expatriate business community centred in St Petersburg, then also Moscow, from the 1730s till the 1920s. This community was established against the background of Peter I's recruitment of foreign engineers for his n ...

.Andrew J. Williams, ''Labour and Russia: The Attitude of the Labour Party to the USSR, 1924-1934'' The Coates lived at 37 Coolhurst Road,

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner Lo ...

, London N8 in later days.

Works

* (1918)
Karl Marx: His Life and Teaching
' London: British Socialist Party * (1920) ''The life and work of Friedrich Engels'' London: The Communist Party of Great Britain * (1968) "Memories of Lenin in London, 1902-3 and 1907", ''Labour Monthly'', November 1968, pp 506–508 Co written with W. P Coates: * (1935)
Armed Intervention in Russia 1918-1922
' London: V. Gollancz * (1938)
From Tsardom to the Stalin Constitution
' London:G. Allen and Unwin * (1939)
World Affairs and the U. S. S. R.
' London : Lawrence and Wishart * (1940)
Russia, Finland and the Baltic
' London : Lawrence and Wishart * (1940)
The Soviet-Finnish Campaign: Military & Political, 1939-1940
' * (1942) ''Why Russia Will Win'' London : Eldon Press * (1943) ''A History of Anglo-Soviet Relations''
Volume IVolume II
London: Lawrence and Wishart * (1951)
Soviets in Central Asia
' London: Lawrence and Wishart

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kahan, Zelda 1886 births 1969 deaths British Socialist Party members Communist Party of Great Britain members Social Democratic Federation members Russian Jews Russian studies scholars People from Hornsey Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom