William Rust (journalist)

William Rust

William Charles Rust (24 April 1903 – 3 February 1949) was a British newspaper editor and communist activist.

Biography

Born in Camberwell, Rust began working at Hulton's Press Agency, before moving to the Workers Dreadnought communist newspaper (produced by Sylvia Pankhurst).[1] He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) shortly after its foundation, and in 1923 he joined its executive, as a representative of the Young Communist League. He attended the Fifth Congress of the Communist International in Moscow.[2]

In 1925, Rust was one of 12 members of the Communist Party convicted at the Old Bailey under the Incitement to Mutiny Act 1797, and was given 12 months' imprisonment.

In 1930, Rust became the first editor of the party's newspaper, the Daily Worker. He was in the post for two years, before becoming the CPGB's representative in Moscow, then after a period as a party organiser in Lancashire, he became the Daily Worker's correspondent with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War.[2]

Rust returned as editor of the Daily Worker in 1939, remaining in the post until his death from a heart attack[1] in 1949, aged 45. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium.[2]

Footnotes

Party political offices
Preceded by
New position
Secretary of the Young Communist League
1921–29?
Succeeded by
Wally Tapsell
Media offices
Preceded by
New position
Editor of the Daily Worker
1930–32
Succeeded by
Jimmy Shields
Preceded by
John Ross Campbell
Editor of the Daily Worker
1939–49
Succeeded by
John Ross Campbell
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.