Annette Teta Rubinstein (April 12, 1910 – June 20, 2007) was an American Marxist educator, literary critic, and activist.

Biography

Rubinstein was born on April 12, 1910, on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Both of her parents, Abraham and Jean Rubinstein, were teachers. Rubinstein earned her PhD from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and then became the principal of the Robert Louis Stevenson High School. Rubinstein joined the Communist Party in the 1930s and remained a secret member of the Party until 1952. She was also active in the American Labor Party, and served as its state vice-chairman. She met American Labor Party politician Vito Marcantonio in 1934 and later worked for him as an adviser. In 1958, she ran for

Lieutenant Governor of New York The lieutenant governor of New York is a Constitution of New York, constitutional office in the executive branch of the Government of the State of New York. It is the second highest-ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governo ...

on the Independent-Socialist ticket. As a writer and literary critic, Rubinstein was the author of the two-volume book ''The Great Tradition in English Literature: From Shakespeare to Shaw'', which focused "from a Marxist perspective on the relationship of political and social movements to 'major literary works'. Rubinstein taught in East Germany between 1960 and 1962 and served as the vice-chairman of the German-American Friendship Society, which advocated for American recognition of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Her papers are held in the

Tamiment Library The Tamiment Library is a research library at New York University that documents Far left, radical and Left-wing politics, left history, with strengths in the histories of History of communism, communism, History of socialism, socialism, History o ...

at New York University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubinstein, Annette 1910 births 2007 deaths People from the Lower East Side 20th-century American educators American literary critics American Marxists American Marxist writers 20th-century American women writers Columbia University alumni Members of the Communist Party USA