Dunayevskaya, Raya (1910–1987)

RAYA DUNAYEVSKAYA WAS the founder and national chairwoman of News and Letters and one of the key philosophical forces behind the development of Marxist Humanism both within the United States and internationally. Dunayevskaya emigrated to the United States from Ukraine in 1922 with her parents, and even at a young age associated with the Communist Party. By 1928, Dunayevskaya found herself (along with many others) expelled from the Communist Party for “Trot-skyist sympathies.” Between 1928 and 1937, Dunayevskaya worked across the United States for a number of progressive organizations and causes, including the Spartacus Youth League and the Washington Committee to Aid Agricultural Workers.

In 1937, Dunayevskaya accepted an invitation to serve as Leon Trotsky's Russian language secretary in Mexico. Dunayevskaya returned to the United States ...