Idris Cox

Idris Cox (15 July 1899 – 25 June 1989) was a Welsh communist activist, political candidate, newspaper editor, and author.

Biography Born into a mining family in Llwydiarth Cottages, Maesteg, Cox spent most of his childhood in Cwmfelin. He started working in a coal mine at a young age. His family was deeply religious, and he attended chapel three times each Sunday. However, his religious commitment diminished as he joined the trade union movement and involved himself in the South Wales miners' strike of 1915. At age 18, he was elected to the management committee of the Garth Miners' Institute.

Cox returned to London in 1929 to join the CPGB's political bureau. He also worked as a correspondent for the Workers' Weekly. They married the following year and had two children together. In June 1951 he became head of the International Department of the CPGB, and was involved in the Movement for Colonial Freedom. and The Hungry Half: a Study in the Exploitation of the Third World (1970). In 1948 he translated the Communist Manifesto into Welsh. He was a frequent contributor to the CPGB's monthly magazine, Marxism Today, and wrote the article marking the Party's 50th anniversary.

Cox retired in 1970. He worked on an autobiography, Story of a Welsh Rebel. Although the manuscript was undated and unpublished, it was believed to have been completed in 1972. He was 89. While some obituaries were complimentary,