Sol Levitas (1894-1960) was an American magazine editor, an "old-line Socialist" and "Russian refugee journalist" who served as managing editor of ''

The New Leader ''The New Leader'' (1924–2010) was an American political and cultural magazine. History ''The New Leader'' began in 1924 under a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, such as Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas. It was ...

'' (1940-1950) and "shaped the journal's character."

Background

Sol Levitas was born Samuel Moisewitch Levitas in 1894 in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

Career

Levitas became a Socialist at age 15, became a

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

and close friend of

Alexander Kerensky Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky, ; original spelling: ( – 11 June 1970) was a Russian lawyer and revolutionary who led the Russian Provisional Government and the short-lived Russian Republic for three months from late July to early Novembe ...

. In 1916, he first visited Chicago but returned home after the overthrow of the Romanov dynasty in February 1917. After the

Bolshevik Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

, he was imprisoned several times. In 1923, dressed as a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

colonel, he fled to New York City. He joined 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 Ameri ...

and wrote for the ''

Jewish Daily Forward ''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, '' ...

'' and the ''Leader''. On January 19, 1924, the first issue of ''

'' hit newsstands. In 1930, Levitas became its business manager. In 1936, after years of infighting, editor

James Oneal James J. "Jim" Oneal (March 13, 1875 – December 12, 1962), a founding member of the Socialist Party of America (SPA), was a prominent socialist journalist, historian, and party activist who played a decisive role in the bitter party splits of 19 ...

left Levitas in charge. In 1939, Levitas attacked the Hitler-Stalin Pact. In 1943, he criticized

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American writer, muckraker, political activist and the 1934 Democratic Party nominee for governor of California who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in sever ...

for signing a petition in support of the Soviet Union. In 1945, Levitas criticized all accommodation with the USSR (i.e., the

Yalta Conference The Yalta Conference (codenamed Argonaut), also known as the Crimea Conference, held 4–11 February 1945, was the World War II meeting of the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union to discuss the post ...

). By 1949, the magazine was in dire financial straits. In 1950, Levitas said that "friends" were contributing to the magazine and in 1957 said that amount with $15,000 per year.

Personal life and death

Levitas married Esther Fera. Their children were a daughter Nora and son Mitchell R. Levitas, ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' editor and 1959

Nieman Fellow The Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University awards multiple types of fellowships. Nieman Fellowships for journalists A Nieman Fellowship is an award given to journalists by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University. ...

, Levitas died age 66 on January 3, 1961, in New York City.

Legacy

In 1960, former US Assistant Secretary of State and member of

FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As th ...

's "

Brain Trust Brain trust was a term that originally described a group of close advisers to a political candidate or incumbent; these were often academics who were prized for their expertise in particular fields. The term is most associated with the group of ad ...

Adolf A. Berle Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. (; January 29, 1895 – February 17, 1971) was an American lawyer, educator, writer, and diplomat. He was the author of ''The Modern Corporation and Private Property'', a groundbreaking work on corporate governance, a prof ...

wrote that Levitas made ''The New Leader'' "a wellspring of first-hand information on foreign affairs." He noted, "In particular, he wished to prevent the crystallization into accepted history of untrue myths propagated by propaganda services." In 1984,

Sidney Hook Sidney Hook (December 20, 1902 – July 12, 1989) was an American philosopher of pragmatism known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics. After embracing communism in his you ...

and

Arnold Beichman Arnold Beichman (May 17, 1913February 17, 2010 Podhoretz, John"Arnold Beichman, 1913–2010."'' Commentary'', February 18, 2010. Archived frothe original./ref>) was an author, scholar, and a critic of communism. At the time of his death, he was ...

wrote "what distinguished ''The New Leader'', under Sol Levitas, from other publications was that its writers consistently involved themselves with other questions of the day, what Mr. Glazer felicitously calls ''the large areas of the public realm,'' such as technology, nuclear arms, ethnic relations, trade unionism and other issues."

References

1894 births 20th-century American writers 1960 deaths {{US-journalist-19thC-stub

Background

Career

Personal life and death

Legacy

See also

References