Harry Pollitt

Harry Pollitt
Pollitt in 1934
3rd & 5th General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain[a]
In office June 1941 – 13 May 1956
Preceded by	R. Palme Dutt
Succeeded by	John Gollan
In office July 1929 – 11 October 1939
Preceded by	J. R. Campbell
Succeeded by	R. Palme Dutt
General Secretary of the National Minority Movement
In office 1924–1929
Personal details
Born	Harry Pollitt (1890-11-22)22 November 1890 Droylsden, Lancashire, England
Died	27 June 1960(1960-06-27) (aged 69) Great Australian Bight, aboard SS Orion
Resting place	Golders Green Crematorium, Golders Green, London
Political party	Communist Party of Great Britain
Other political affiliations	Workers' Socialist Federation
Spouse	Marjorie Brewer ​ (m. 1925)​
Children	2
Parent(s)	Samuel Pollitt Mary Louisa
Signature

Harry Pollitt (22 November 1890 – 27 June 1960) was a British communist who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) from July 1929 to September 1939 and again from 1941 until his death in 1960. Pollitt spent most of his life advocating communism. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist, Pollitt was an adherent particularly of Joseph Stalin even after Stalin's death and disavowal by Nikita Khrushchev. Pollitt's acts included opposition to the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, support for the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, support for the war against Nazi Germany, opposition to wartime censorship of the Left Wing press, campaigning for the opening of a second front, defence of the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, and support for the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary.

He contested a number of parliamentary elections, but never won, despite coming close in 1945. Throughout his time as leader of CPGB, he was in direct secret radio contact with Moscow as CPGB's "Code Holder", and was monitored by the British security services.
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