Emile Vivian Burns

Bernard Emile Vivian Burns (16 April 1889 – 29 November 1972) was a British communist, economist, translator and author as an active member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.

Early life and family 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. He had three brothers, Cecil, Robert and Alan, and one sister, Agnes. As a child, he and other boys would often swim out to the ships that were too big to come into the harbour, black and white boys played and swam together. However, once they reached their teens they were no longer allowed to play together. Burns attended Trinity College, Cambridge to study economics. While there, he met Elinor Enfield, and the two married in Nottinghamshire in 1913. Their first daughter, Susannah, was born 11 September 1914, and Marca was born on 4 January 1916. The family moved to London sometime after April 1918 but prior to the end of World War I. Emile 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. In 1935, he was elected to the CPGB's executive, ultimately serving for more than twenty years. He held many positions within the party, most focusing on cultural or educational activity, including a spell as head of the party's propaganda department. He spent a period as editor of the Communist Review, and was later editor of the World News. In the early 1950s, he did much of the preparation work for the party's new programme, the British Road to Socialism.

Burns translated both political and non-political writings from Russian, French and German into English, including Friedrich Engels's Anti-Dühring, and parts of Karl Marx's Theories of Surplus Value. He wrote works of his own including Handbook of Marxism, What is Marxism and Introduction to Marxism, successive basic explanations of Marxism.

Books and pamphlets Finance; an introductory course for classes and study circles 1922 Imperialism: an outline course for students classes and study circles 1927 Agriculture by H. B. Pointing and E. Burns 1927 Russia's Productive System 1930 The 2 classes in 1931 The only way out 1932 Capitalism, communism, and the transition 1933 What Is The Communist Party? 1933 The Roosevelt Illusion by Burns, Emile & Roy, F M 1934 Karl Liebknecht 1934 A Handbook of Marxism 1935 Abyssinia and Italy 1935 Spain 1936 The People's Front 1936 Difficulties Facing Peace 1936 Money ~ The New People's Library Volume I 1937 Communist Affiliation Pamphlet – 1937 What Is Marxism? 1 Jan 1939 Party Organiser (CPGB) November 1939 (pamphlet) Mr. Keynes Answered : an Examination of the Keynes Plan 1940 The Soviet Union and Finland (pamphlet) 1940 Labour's Way Forward 1942 Jobs, Homes, Security: Post-war Britain and the Way to Socialism (pamphlet) 1944 The Case for Affiliation: The Labour Party and the Communist Party 1943 The Fight for Labours Programme 1946 The Soviet Transition from Socialism to Communism 1950 The Meaning of Socialism 1950 Introduction to Marxism Dec 1961 Right-wing Labour: Its theory and Practice 1961 Communism: Your Questions Answered 1963 President Nkrumah on Neo-Colonialism 1966 (pamphlet) Money and Inflation 1968 Winning the peace The Triumph of Communism: Communist Manifesto Centenary Speech The World of to-Day: Modern Finance The Marxist Reader: The Most Significant and Enduring Works of Marxism