Sebald Justinus Rutgers (25 January 1879 – 14 June 1961) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

theoretician and journalist who played an important role in the

Left Wing Section The Left Wing Section of the Socialist Party was an organized faction within the Socialist Party of America in 1919 which served as the core of the dual communist parties which emerged in the fall of that year—the Communist Party of America a ...

of the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

. He was also a

construction engineer Construction engineering, also known as construction operations, is a professional subdiscipline of civil engineering that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and operations management of infrastructure such as roadways, tunnels, bri ...

who was active in building industry in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Biography

Early years

S. J. Rutgers was born in

Leiden, Netherlands Leiden ( ; ; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 127,046 (31 January 2023), but the city forms one densely connecte ...

on January 25, 1879. He studied from 1896 to the Polytechnical School of Delft, where he came into contact with socialism. In 1900 he graduated as a civil engineer and took a job for the municipality of Rotterdam, where he worked on the expansion of the port. At the same time, he was active from 1899 in the SDAP. From 1911 to 1915 he was director of public works in

Medan Medan ( , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multi ...

, and then buyer for Indonesian companies in the United States.

Political activities

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Rutgers was a frequent contributor to the Left Wing

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

press in America. His influential articles in'' The International Socialist Review'' and other publications supported the

antimilitarist Antimilitarism (also spelt anti-militarism) is a doctrine that opposes war, relying heavily on a critical theory of imperialism and was an explicit goal of the First and Second International. Whereas pacifism is the doctrine that disputes (especia ...

Zimmerwald Left The Zimmerwald Conference, held in Zimmerwald, Switzerland, from September 5 to 8, 1915, was the first of three international conferences convened by anti-militarist socialists in response to the outbreak of World War I and the resulting virtu ...

movement and helped publicize the ideas of

revolutionary socialism Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revo ...

to an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

audience. Rutgers was the financial force behind the establishment of a group called the

Socialist Propaganda League of America The Socialist Propaganda League of America (SPLA) was established in 1915, apparently by C. W. Fitzgerald of Beverly, Massachusetts. The group was a membership organization established within the ranks of the Socialist Party of America (SPA) and ...

in 1915, a

revolutionary socialist Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...

forerunner of the

Communist Party of America The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

. Rutgers was subsequently regarded as one of the leading theoreticians of the Left Wing of the

, a tendency which emerged as the

after 1919. After the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. It was led by Vladimir L ...

of 1917, Rutgers made his way to Soviet Russia via

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Having transversed the war zone of the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, he arrived in

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 ...

whereupon he was invited to meet with

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 ...

in the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

. He attended the First Congress of the

Communist International 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 Internationa ...

. When the Comintern established its Amsterdam Bureau, Rutgers was appointed secretary and given the major portion of twenty million roubles – in the form of

precious stones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...

– with which to found this bureau. From 1922–1926, he led the construction of an international workers cooperative, the

Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony The Kuzbass Autonomous Industrial Colony was an experiment in workers' control in the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1926 during the New Economic Policy. It was based in Shcheglovsk, Kuzbass, Siberia. History Creation of the Autonomous Industrial ...

in the Kuzbas area of Siberia. From 1930 to 1938 he worked as a consultant on the examination of large construction projects in as member of the board for foreign specialists at the

Rabkrin The People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection, also known as Rabkrin (; РКИ, RKI; Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate, WPI), was a governmental establishment in the Soviet Union of ministerial level (people's commissariat) t ...

. He was also a member of the editorial board of the Soviet English-language newspaper ''

Moskovskiye Novosti ''Moskovskiye Novosti'' (, ''Moscow News'') was a Russian-language daily newspaper in Russia relaunched in 2011. The paper - by then a 'youth-oriented' free sheet handed out at more than 850 places around Moscow - on 23 January 2014 announced th ...

''. In 1938, Rutgers left the Soviet Union. Back in the Netherlands, Rutgers became an active member of the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the liberation, he lived out his life as a respected, but non-influential member of the

Communist Party of the Netherlands The Communist Party of the Netherlands (, , CPN) was a communist party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social Democratic Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the ...

Death and legacy

Sebald Rutgers died in Amersfoort, Netherlands on June 14, 1961. A small collection of Rutgers' papers resides at the

International Institute of Social History International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

in Amsterdam."Archief Sebald Justinus Rutgers finding aid,"
Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiendenis, Amsterdam.

Footnotes

Works

* "The Left Wing: Mass Action and Mass Democracy," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 17, no. 5 (November 1916), pp. 301–303. * "The Left Wing: An Actual Beginning," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 17, no. 6 (December 1916), pp. 365–366. * "Mass Action in Russia," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 17, no. 7 (January 1917), pp. 410–413. * "The Future of International Socialism," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 17, no. 9 (March 1917), pp. 550–551. * "Letter from Karl Liebknecht," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 17, no. 10 (April 1917), pp. 610–612. * "Our Action Against Conscription," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 17, no. 11 (May 1917), pp. 721–722. * "Introduction to the History of the Labor Movement in Japan," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 18, no. 1 (July 1917), pp. 37–38. * "World Policies," ''International Socialist Review,'' vol. 18, no. 3 (September 1917), pp. 172–173.
"Letter to Oakley C. Johnson in NYC from S.J. Rutgers in Amersfoort, Holland, April 21, 1958,"
C.E. Ruthenberg Papers, Ohio Historical Society, Box 14, Folder 4, Microfilm reel 8. Corvallis, OR: 1000 Flowers Publishing, 2012.

External links

at marxists.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Rutgers, S. J. 20th-century Dutch engineers 1879 births 1961 deaths Dutch communists Dutch emigrants Immigrants to the Soviet Union People from Leiden