Joshua Kunitz (December 18, 1896-March 2, 1980) was an American professor and journalist.

Biography

Kunitz was born in Russia, where he was educated at the Slonimskoye Realnoye Uchilishche. After immigrating to the United States, Kunitz received his doctorate 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 ...

, entitled ''Russian Literature and the Jew''. By the 1930s, Kunitz was active in the Communist Party. He was briefly expelled from the Communist Party because of his opposition to the

Russian Association of Proletarian Writers The Russian Association of Proletarian Writers, also known under its transliterated abbreviation RAPP () was an official creative union in the Soviet Union established in January 1925. and both pro and anti-Bolshevik writers were targeted, notab ...

, but was reinstated in 1932.He visited Moscow in the spring of 1930 and again five years later, describing his second trip as "one continuous gasp of wonderment" The first trip was as a participant in the 1930 Kharkov Conference of Revolutionary Writers, organized by the

International Union of Revolutionary Writers International Union of Revolutionary Writers () was a union of writers' organizations established by the Soviet Union in the 1920s and played an active role on the world stage in the 1930s. As an international organization to promote Proletarian ...

. He was part of a group of international writers touring Central Asia, with Kunitz and

Louis Lozowick Louis Lozowick (1892–1973) () was a Ukrainian-born American painter and printmaker. He is recognized as an Art Deco and Precisionist artist, and mainly produced streamline, urban-inspired monochromatic lithographs in a career that spanned 50 ...

the only Americans invited. Kunitz taught courses in Marxism and literature at a school organized by the John Reed Clubs. Kunitz was critical of the presence of party functionaries in the Clubs, who he thought did not contribute to the intellectual activities. Due to his academic background, Kunitz was regarded as the American Communist Party's expert on Russian literature. He served on the editorial board of ''

New Masses ''New Masses'' (1926–1948) was an American Marxist magazine closely associated with the Communist Party USA (CPUSA). It was the successor to both '' The Masses'' (1911–1917) and ''The Liberator'' (1918–1924). ''New Masses'' was later merge ...

''. He covered the Moscow Trials in a 1936 series of four articles for the magazine. In his reporting, Kunitz expressed some skepticism about the Trials, and the subsequent controversy lead to the expulsion of ''New Masses'' editor Joseph Freeman from the Party. Kunitz published ''Dawn Over Samarkand'' in 1935, a book based on his travels to Russia and describing the emergence of Communism in Central Asia and the Far East after the Russian Revolution. He was also a member of ''

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a left-wing small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affi ...

'''s editorial board on its first issue. Kunitz was appointed as a Russian teacher at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

's Intensive Russian Language and Culture Program, a move that attracted criticism because of his Communist sympathies. He replaced Vladimir Kazakevich in the role, after Kazakevich was deported to the Soviet Union. In 1948, after breaking with the Communist Party, he was appointed to the Middlebury Russian School as the assistant to the director.In 1953,

Grace Lumpkin Grace Lumpkin (March 3, 1891 – March 23, 1980) was an American writer of proletarian literature who focused most of her works on the Depression era and the rise and fall of communism in the United States. The most important of four books was he ...

testified that Kunitz had threatened to "break eras a writer" if she wrote anything the contradicted the Communist Party's line. Kunitz died in Rochester, New York on March 2, 1980.

Personal life

Kunitz's sister Sarah was also involved in the Communist Party during the 1930s and inspired

Howard Fast Howard Melvin Fast (November 11, 1914 – March 12, 2003) was an American novelist and television writer. Fast also wrote under the pen names E.V. Cunningham and Walter Ericson. Biography Early life Fast was born in New York City. His mother, ...

to join the Party. (She later married journalist Alexander Kendrick).

Granville Hicks Granville Hicks (September 9, 1901 – June 18, 1982) was an American Marxist and later anti-Marxist novelist, literary critic, educator, and editor. Early life and education Granville Hicks was born September 9, 1901, in Exeter, New Hampshire, ...

described Kunitz as "quiet and scholarly, gentle and dependable". Kunitz was also the uncle of journalist Edith Efron.

Bibliography

* ''Russian Literature and the Jew'' (1929) * ''Voices of October: Art and Literature in Soviet Russia''. (1930) Co-editor, with Joseph Freeman and Louis Lozowick. * ''Dawn Over Samarkand: The Rebirth of Central Asia'' (1935) * ''Russia, the Giant that Came Last'' (1947) * ''Russian Literature Since the Revolution'' (1948)

References

{{Authority control 1897 births 1980 deaths Members of the Communist Party USA American male journalists American Marxists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Columbia University alumni American Marxist writers