Bertram D. Wolfe
Bertram D. Wolfe was an influential political writer and a founding member of the American Communist Party, born in 1896 in Brooklyn, New York. After earning his bachelor's degree from the City College of New York, he initially worked as a teacher before moving to Mexico City with his wife, where he engaged with the local communist movement and befriended notable figures like muralist Diego Rivera. His political activities led to his expulsion from Mexico in 1925, prompting his return to the U.S., where he became director of the Workers School in New York, promoting Marxist principles.
Wolfe's political journey included a trip to Moscow as an American delegate to the Third Communist International, where he interacted with key revolutionary figures. However, disillusionment with the Soviet regime under Stalin led him to shift his focus toward writing, culminating in his notable work, "Three Who Made a Revolution," which provided a biographical account of Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. In his later years, Wolfe contributed to academia as a professor of Slavic studies and Hispanic culture. His legacy includes various honors and awards for his contributions to literature and education, and he passed away in 1977, leaving behind an autobiography published posthumously.
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Bertram D. Wolfe
Author
- Born: January 19, 1896
- Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York
- Died: February 21, 1977
- Place of death: San Jose, California
Biography
Bertram D. Wolfe, a political writer and one of the founders of the American Communist Party, was born in 1896 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of William D. and Rachel Samter Wolfe. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the City College of New York. In 1916, after receiving his degree, he spent a year teaching English at Boys High School in Brooklyn. In 1917, he married Ella Goldberg, who was a teacher of Spanish, and the couple moved to Mexico City, Mexico. There, Wolfe was an English teacher and the head of foreign languages at Miguel Lerdo High School while he pursued his postgraduate degree at the University of Mexico. He also became friends with Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.
At this time, Wolfe became attracted to the communist movement. He was one of the founders of the Workers Communist Party and worked to promote Communist ideas among Mexican railroad workers. In 1925, the Mexican government forced him to leave the country because of his Communist activities.
Upon returning to the United States, Wolfe took a position as director of the Workers School in New York City. This school taught the ideals of Marxism, including how to organize a workers’ strike and how to promote Communism. Wolfe became a well-known speaker at Communist rallies. In 1928, he unsuccessfully ran for the U. S. Congress.
In 1929, Wolfe traveled to Moscow as the American delegate to the Third Communist International. At this convention, Wolfe met many Soviet revolutionaries, including Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin. In the early 1930’s, when Stalin had established his dictatorial leadership of the Soviet Union, Wolfe changed his opinions of Communism and could not support many of the policies of the Soviet regime. He began to focus much of his time on writing nonpolitical books with his friend, Rivera. Most of these works consisted of Wolfe’s texts describing Rivera’s paintings, including Portrait of America and Portrait of Mexico.
In 1939, Wolfe shifted his focus back to politics and began writing his major work, Three Who Made a Revolution: Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin. This work was a biographical study of the three Soviet leaders and took nine years for Wolfe to complete. It was published in 1948 and eventually translated into twenty-eight languages.
In his later years, Wolfe was an advisor and professor of Slavic studies and Hispanic culture at various academic institutions, including Stanford University in California, the University of California, and the University of Miami in Florida. Wolfe’s achievements were honored with numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Townshend Harris Medal from the City University of New York, and the Award for Distinguished Contributions to Slavic Studies from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies.
Wolfe died in 1977 at the age of eighty-one. His autobiography, A Life in Two Centuries, was published posthumously.