Charles Dirba

Charles Dirba (; 1887–1969) was a Latvian-American co-founder of the Communist Party of America (CPA) and Communist Party USA (CPUSA).

Background Kārlis Dirba was born on January 14, 1887. He studied at Kalnciema Pagastskola and later at Riga Polytechnic Institute.

In 1928, Dirba served as secretary of the Central Committee of the Party's Latvian Group (through 1939). In 1929, he was elected secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party USA (successor to the CPA). During the Scottsboro Boys Case, Diba served as assistant secretary of the International Labor Defense (ILD).

In 1946, Dirba became a member of the Los Angeles section of the CPUSA through 1950. In 1947, the Lithuanian-American newspaper Draugas called Dirba "an extremely shadowy figure who is the confidential agent of the all-powerful Comintern in the western hemisphere, according to Igor Gouzenko, former cipher clerk in the Soviet embassy in Ottawa."

In 1950, ex-communist Louis F. Budenz described Dirba during the 1940s: The representative of the Control Commission–either the late Jacob Golos, who was then chairman, or the secretary Charles (also known as Clarence) Dirba–constantly visited me secretly to check on the comrades around me. I would take them to a locked room at the north end of the building, which was set aside for just such "confidential communications ." Little sandy-haired Golos and tall, lanky, bespectacled Dirba were quite unlike in general physical characteristics. But they were similar indeed in their tiptoe walk, their stealthy manner and their quiet speech. In 1962, Dirba was a member of the American Latvian Workers' Union through 1969. the official Latvian organ of the Workers Party of America and the American Latvian Workers' Union . "Letter to 'Comrade Stepan' in Moscow" (1921) "Memories of C.E. Ruthenberg" (1940)