Isidore Begun

Isidore Begun (December 3, 1903 – October 21, 1988) was an American teacher and Communist Party politician.

Begun c. 1937

Biography

Communist Party campaign headquarters in the Bronx, New York during the 1937 elections, displaying Begun's name and those of the American Labor Party candidates side by side.

Begun was born in the Russian Empire on December 3, 1903, immigrating to the United States in April of the following year.^[1] According to the Daily Worker, his father worked as a capmaker in the Lower East Side and Begun himself began working at the age of 12, using the money to pay for his education and eventually graduate from Columbia University with a Master of Arts.^[2][3]

Begun became a naturalized citizen in September 1925.^[1] That year he started work as a public school teacher in the Bronx.^[4] Begun worked with the New York City Teachers Union, where his left-wing politics were controversial. John Dewey attempted to have him fired for disruptive behavior in 1933.^[5] Begun was dismissed from his teaching position in 1934, after he defended a teacher who had been fired for protesting salary cuts.^[6] Following his firing, Begun became the chairman of the Unemployed Teachers Association.^[7]

In 1937, Begun was the Communist Party's candidate for New York City Council but lost the election to Salvatore Ninfo.^[8] He ran again in 1939, 1941 and 1943^[9] despite an attempt to remove him from the ballot due to his Communist Party membership.^[10] He also served as chairman of the Bronx County Communist Party from 1944^[11] to 1949.^[12][13]

Begun's FBI mugshot, 1951

On the morning of June 20, 1951, Begun and 16 other Communist Party leaders were arrested by the FBI and charged with violating the Smith Act.^[14] In September 1952, Judge Edward J. Dimock dropped the charges against Begun and Si Gerson, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict them.^[15]