10 Facts About Emile Burns

Bernard Emile Vivian Burns was a British communist, economist, translator and author as an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

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.

Emile Burns had three brothers, Cecil, Robert and Alan, and one sister, Agnes.

Emile and Elinor were both members of the Independent Labour Party, Emile joining the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1921, followed by Elinor in 1923.

Emile Burns 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.

Emile Burns was a supporter of the London busmen's rank and file movement in the 1930s, and edited its newspaper, The Busmen's Punch.

Emile Burns held many positions within the party, most focusing on cultural or educational activity, including a spell as head of the party's propaganda department.

Emile Burns spent a period as editor of the Communist Review, and was later editor of the World News.

Emile Burns translated both political and non-political writings from Russian, France and German into English, including Friedrich Engels's Anti-Duhring, and parts of Karl Marx's Theories of Surplus Value.

Emile Burns wrote works of his own including Handbook of Marxism, What is Marxism and Introduction to Marxism, successive basic explanations of Marxism.