Salme Pekkala-Dutt (: Salme Anette Murrik; 29 August 1888 – 30 August 1964) was an Estonian-British
communist
Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
politician
A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, wife of
Rajani Palme Dutt
Rajani may refer to:
* Rajani (name), people named Rajani
* Rajani (actress) (born 1965), Indian film actress
* Rajanikanth (born 1950), Indian actor
* ''Rajani'' (TV series), a 1980s Indian TV series
* ''Rajani'' (film), a 2009 Indian Kannada rom ...
.
The Finnish-Estonian author
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 has previously been 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 Counc ...
.
Salme Murrik was born in
Helme Parish
Helme Parish () was a rural Municipalities of Estonia, municipality of Estonia, in Valga County. It had a population of 2,525 (as of 1 January 2009) and an area of 312.73 km2.
Geography Populated places
There was Populated places in Esto ...
,
Governorate of Livonia
The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(present-day
Estonia
Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...
), and spent her childhood in
Valga. She was expelled from the A.S.
Pushkin
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is conside ...
Gymnasium in
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...
due to her participation in the
Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...
, and moved to
Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
, and to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...
, and
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
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 Finn ...
, 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. Mauno Pekkala was the brother of Eino Pekkala.
Pekkala was a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finla ...
.
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 CPGB ...
, Murrik, a
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
agent, acted as Dutt's link to Moscow.
David Harker, Tressell
/ref> Salme Murrik had been directed to Britain on Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
'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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
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'')
1888 births
1964 deaths
Politicians from Tõrva Parish
People from Kreis Fellin
Estonian communists
Communist Party of Great Britain members
British Comintern people
Anti-revisionists
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom
{{Estonia-politician-stub