Emile Burns

Emile Burns was born in Basseterre, St Kitts, on 29 November 1889, the son of James Patrick Burns, the Treasurer and Harbour Master of St. Kitts and Nevis. He had three brothers, Cecil, Robert and Alan, and one sister, Agnes. As a child, he and other boys would often swim out to the ships that were too big to come into the harbour, black and white boys played and swam together. However, once they reached their teens they were no longer allowed to play together.[1][2] Burns attended Trinity College, Cambridge to study economics. While there, he met Elinor Enfield, and the two married in Nottinghamshire in 1913.[3] Their first daughter, Susannah, was born 11 September 1914, and Marca was born on 4 January 1916.[1] At this time Emile Burns was working for Cunard,[2] but was also serving on a national committee enquiring into poverty, which had been set up by Eleanor Rathbone, and which published Equal Pay and the Family: A Proposal for the National Endowment of Motherhood.[1] The family moved to London sometime after April 1918 but prior to the end of World War I.[2]

Emile and Elinor were both members of the Independent Labour Party, Emile joining the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) in 1921, followed by Elinor in 1923.[1][4] Emile found work as the secretary of the Labour Research Department, except during the UK general strike, when he worked as propaganda secretary of the St Pancras Trades Council.[1]

Emile was a supporter of the London busmen's rank and file movement in the 1930s, and edited its newspaper, The Busmen's Punch.[5] In 1935, he was elected to the CPGB's executive, ultimately serving for more than twenty years.[4] He held many positions within the party, most focusing on cultural or educational activity,[4] including a spell as head of the party's propaganda department. He spent a period as editor of the Communist Review, and was later editor of the World News. In the early 1950s, he did much of the preparation work for the party's new programme, the British Road to Socialism.[5]

Burns translated both political and non-political writings from Russian, France and German into English, including Friedrich Engels' Anti-Dühring, and parts of Karl Marx's Theories of Surplus Value. He wrote works of his own including Handbook of Marxism, What is Marxism and Introduction to Marxism, successive basic explanations of Marxism.[5]

Finance; an introductory course for classes and study circles 1922

Imperialism: an outline course for students classes and study circles 1927

Agriculture by H. B. Pointing and E. Burns 1927

Russia's Productive System 1930

The 2 classes in 1931

The only way out 1932

Capitalism, communism, and the transition 1933

What Is The Communist Party? 1933

The Roosevelt Illusion by Burns, Emile & Roy, F M 1934

Karl Liebknecht 1934

A Handbook of Marxism 1935

Abyssinia and Italy 1935

Spain 1936

The People's Front 1936

Difficulties Facing Peace 1936

Money ~ The New People's Library Volume I 1937

Communist Affiliation Pamphlet – 1937

What Is Marxism? 1 Jan 1939

Party Organiser (CPGB) November 1939 (pamphlet)

Mr. Keynes Answered : an Examination of the Keynes Plan 1940

The Soviet Union and Finland (pamphlet) 1940

Labour's Way Forward 1942

Jobs, Homes, Security: Post-war Britain and the Way to Socialism (pamphlet) 1944

The Case for Affiliation: The Labour Party and the Communist Party 1943

The Fight for Labours Programme 1946

The Soviet Transition from Socialism to Communism 1950

The Meaning of Socialism 1950

Introduction to Marxism Dec 1961

Right-wing Labour: Its theory and Practice 1961

Communism: Your Questions Answered 1963

President Nkrumah on Neo-Colonialism 1966 (pamphlet)

Money and Inflation 1968

Winning the peace

The Triumph of Communism: Communist Manifesto Centenary Speech

The World of to-Day: Modern Finance

The Marxist Reader: The Most Significant and Enduring Works of Marxism

• Emile Burns Archive at Marxists.org