Boris Yelensky
| Boris Yelensky | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 17, 1889 Krasnodar |
| Died | June 18, 1974 US |
| Nationality | Russian, American |
| Occupation | Soviet propagandist, anarchist, labor activist |
| Years active | 1901-1974 |
| Known for | Anarchist Red Cross |
| Notable work | Boris Yelensky papers, 1939-1975 |
Boris Yelensky was a Russian anarchist propagandist from the early 20th century. Born in Russia in 1889, he participated in the 1905 Revolution, later migrating to the US, returning to take part in the 1917 Revolution and migrating once more to the US. Once there, he became a prominent figure in the anarchism movement, particularly in the Anarchist Red Cross in Chicago.
Boris Yelensky was born in Krasnodar, Russia in 1889, near Novorosisk on the Black Sea in the Russian Empire. Born to a capmaker father, he attended a Russian primary school, and worked for his father as a young boy. His family did not practice Judaism, and Boris was not fluent in Yiddish.
He began reading socialist literature at the age of 12, joining the Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries Maximalists and participating in the 1905 botched revolution. Due to repressive pressure (allegedly by the Ohrana), he emigrated to Philadelphia in 1907, joining the Union of Russian Workers and the Radical Library (a branch of the Workmen's Circle) shortly thereafter. With Morris Beresin they were two of the founders of the Black Red Cross. In Philadelphia, he met and married Bessie, who became his lifelong partner. He also learnt English and Yiddish once in America.
Travelling to Chicago in 1913, he became the Chicago chapter's secretary of the Anarchist Red Cross until 1917; in May that year he travelled to Russia via Japan-Siberia with other members of Golos Truda. Hundreds of anarchists left via that same route to participate in the revolution. He was present during the October Revolution, and active in the factory committee movement in Novorossijsk. During his stay in Russia, he was imprisoned twice. He left Russia with his family in 1922, being banned from the USSR in 1923, and deported as a US citizen; he remained secretary of the Russian Political Relief Committee in 1924-1925.
...
Wikipedia