Originally published on the Daily Worker
Photo: Yuri Gagarin visits the tomb of Karl Marx, July 14, 1961
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, London, 1961
Who was Yuri Gagarin?
Heroes of Socialism and the Soviet legacy are the heritage of American Communists. Much like being the first to fight against Fascists, and the first to organize against Fascism, it is the duty of those in our Marxist-Leninist, Vanguard Party to preserve our heritage and our ideology.
Comrade Yuri Gagarin, Hero of the Soviet Union, is one such figure to be remembered by those who consider themselves Communists in the United States.
Yuri Gagarin, born at a farm collective in what is now named Gagarin, Russia, was the son of a carpenter. During the Great Patriotic War, a young Gagarin was evacuated from his hometown, although two of his sisters were captured by Nazis and sent to Germany as labor slaves.
Yuri Gagarin became a foundry worker. Being a metal worker, Gagarin continued his studies due to the Soviet education system, and became interested in flying, and later attended the Soviet Air Force academy at Orenburg.
It was in this capacity that Gagarin would later study mathematics and physics.
Only 20 applicants out of 3,000 were selected in 1960 to become the first Soviet cosmonauts (cosmonaut is the Soviet, Russian word which means astronaut).
What is Yuri Gagarin’s lesson, and why is it important?
Yuri Gagarin was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After becoming the first man in space, Gagarin became an international celebrity and began visiting foreign countries.
Gagarin’s second trip was to the United Kingdom, where the Soviet Hero and cosmonaut visited Union workers and the tomb of Karl Marx.
Yuri Gagarin with the Foundry Workers Union, Manchester, 1961
Yuri Gagarin visits the tomb of Karl Marx, London, 1961
Gagarin, despite being a celebrity, took his duties as a Party member serious, and his devotion to the cause of socialism-communism is his lesson to those who consider themselves Communists in the 21st century.
The United States in particular is today home to many who consider themselves Communists who reject the Soviet legacy, the idea of a Vanguard Party (as instructed to us by Lenin himself), and the ties to the labor movement. Much of this so-called Communist ideology within the United States of the 21st is founded upon the New Left, a student and intellectual movement from the 1970s, which calls itself the New Left in direct confrontation with the ‘old left’ — the Soviet Union, Marxism-Leninism, and the working-class movement.
Let us on this day, in the Party of Communists USA, celebrate the heritage of Yuri Gagarin, of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Henry Winston, Gus Hall and other heroes. Let our Party continue this history: our task is to teach the youth of our real legacy, to pass on the torch of ideology.
Chris Bovet
National Chair
Central Committee
Party of Communists USA
