Ante Ciliga
Encyclopedia
Ante Ciliga was Croatian politician, writer and publisher. Ciliga was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (KPJ).
He was born in the small Istria
n village of Šegotići (part of Marčana
). Istria was then the Austrian Littoral
(now in Croatia
). Ciliga became a member of the Central Committee and Politbureau of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
(KPJ), as well as chief editor of Borba
newspaper and Regional Secretary for Croatia. After moving to Vienna
in 1925 as the local representative of the KPJ, he settled in the Soviet Union, where he lived from October 1926 to December 1935. His first three years in the USSR were spent in Moscow, where he worked as a teacher at the party school for émigré Yugoslav Communists. He was a sympathizer of the Left Opposition
. He wrote that one possible reason for the rise of Joseph Stalin
was that many Soviet politicians, even committed communists, believed that the Soviet Union consists of backward, Asiatic peoples who need a dictatorship.
In 1930, he taught at the Communist University of Leningrad. Arrested by the GPU because of his opposition to the policies of the Soviet government, he was deported to a concentration camp in Siberia
. Five years later, he finally succeeded in having his sentence commuted to expulsion from Soviet territory.
For the rest of his life, Ciliga lived in France
and Italy
. Already expelled from the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1929, he later resigned from his position. He continued siding with Socialist and democratic positions, but without being part of a particular political group.
Few of Ciliga's extensive writings have appeared in English translation. His pamphlet The Kronstadt Revolt was published by Freedom Press in 1942. The first part of his account of his time in the Soviet Union, The Russian Enigma, was distributed by the Labour Book Service in 1940, and the complete text was published under the same title by Ink Links in 1979.
He was born in the small Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n village of Šegotići (part of Marčana
Marcana
Marčana is a village and municipality in the southern part of Istria, Croatia, 15 km northeast of Pula; elevation 170 m. Chief occupation is farming. The central part of the village is of a compact type, with a number of isolated houses in the surroundings. Most of the population descends...
). Istria was then the Austrian Littoral
Austrian Littoral
The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...
(now in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
). Ciliga became a member of the Central Committee and Politbureau of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia League of Communists of Yugoslavia (Serbo-Croatian: Savez komunista Jugoslavije/Савез комуниста Југославије, Slovene: Zveza komunistov Jugoslavije, Macedonian: Сојуз на комунистите на Југославија, Sojuz na...
(KPJ), as well as chief editor of Borba
Borba
Borba may refer to:Place names* Borba, Amazonas, a municipality in Amazonas state in Brazil* Borba Municipality, Portugal* Borba, Portugal * Borba DOC, a Portuguese wine region* Borba de Montanha, parish in Celorico de Basto Municipality...
newspaper and Regional Secretary for Croatia. After moving to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in 1925 as the local representative of the KPJ, he settled in the Soviet Union, where he lived from October 1926 to December 1935. His first three years in the USSR were spent in Moscow, where he worked as a teacher at the party school for émigré Yugoslav Communists. He was a sympathizer of the Left Opposition
Left Opposition
The Left Opposition was a faction within the Bolshevik Party from 1923 to 1927, headed de facto by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin's illness and intensified with his death in January...
. He wrote that one possible reason for the rise of Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
was that many Soviet politicians, even committed communists, believed that the Soviet Union consists of backward, Asiatic peoples who need a dictatorship.
In 1930, he taught at the Communist University of Leningrad. Arrested by the GPU because of his opposition to the policies of the Soviet government, he was deported to a concentration camp in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Five years later, he finally succeeded in having his sentence commuted to expulsion from Soviet territory.
For the rest of his life, Ciliga lived in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Already expelled from the Yugoslav Communist Party in 1929, he later resigned from his position. He continued siding with Socialist and democratic positions, but without being part of a particular political group.
Few of Ciliga's extensive writings have appeared in English translation. His pamphlet The Kronstadt Revolt was published by Freedom Press in 1942. The first part of his account of his time in the Soviet Union, The Russian Enigma, was distributed by the Labour Book Service in 1940, and the complete text was published under the same title by Ink Links in 1979.
Works
- The Russian Enigma (1940, 1979)
- Štorice iz Proštine (1944, 2004) (Published under the pseudonym of Tone Valić)
- Lenin and Revolution (1948)
- Sibérie, Terre de l'Exil et de l'Industrialisation (1950)
- The Southern Slavic people between East and West, in La Révolution prolétarienne (1950)
- Dokle ce hrvatski narod stenjati pod srpskim jarmom? (1952)
- La crisi di stato nella Jugoslavia di Tito (1972)
- State Crisis in Tito’s Yugoslavia (1974)
- Sam kroz Europu u ratu (1954, 1978)
- U zemlji velike laži (2007)
- Posljednji hrvatski argonaut dr. Ante Ciliga - razgovori - publisher Matica hrvatska Pazin (2011)
External links
Offline sources
- "From Tito and the Comintern", Revolutionary History, Vol.8 No.1.
- Anton Ciliga, The Russian Enigma, Ink-Links, 1979.