# Ella Wolfe > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ella_Wolfe > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ella_Wolfe.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Wolfe > Source revision: 1354362184 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American political activist (1896–2000)}} {{use mdy|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Ella Wolfe | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Ella Goldberg | birth_date = {{birth date|1896|05|10}} | birth_place= [Kherson](/source/Kherson), [Russia](/source/Russian_Empire) (present-day [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine)) | death_date = {{death date and age|2000|01|08|1896|05|10|df=yes}} | death_place= [Palo Alto, California](/source/Palo_Alto%2C_California), USA | education = [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) | spouse = {{marriage|[Bertram Wolfe](/source/Bertram_Wolfe)|1917|1977|end=d.}} | children = | known_for = Co-founder of [Communist Party USA](/source/Communist_Party_USA) }} '''Ella Goldberg Wolfe''' (May 10, 1896 – January 8, 2000) was a [Ukrainian](/source/Ukrainians)-born American political activist and educator, who, with husband [Bertram Wolfe](/source/Bertram_Wolfe), co-founded the [Communist Party USA](/source/Communist_Party_USA) in 1919. She later became disenchanted with communism and aligned herself with American political conservatism and anti-communism. ==Background== Ella Goldberg was born on May 10, 1896, in [Kherson, Ukraine](/source/Kherson%2C_Ukraine) and came to [Williamsburg, Brooklyn](/source/Williamsburg%2C_Brooklyn) with her parents in 1906.{{cn|date=July 2024}} ==Career== Ella Goldberg Wolfe and Bertram Wolfe worked at the [Rand School](/source/Rand_School_of_Social_Science). After the passage of the [Sedition Act of 1918](/source/Sedition_Act_of_1918), they were forced to go underground, living under assumed names. They lived for a time in [Mexico City](/source/Mexico_City), where their circle of friends included [Frida Kahlo](/source/Frida_Kahlo) and [Diego Rivera](/source/Diego_Rivera). In 1929, they moved to [Moscow](/source/Moscow) but fell out with [Stalin](/source/Joseph_Stalin); they left two years later and returned to [Brooklyn](/source/Brooklyn). Wolfe earned a degree in Spanish from [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) and went on to teach Spanish literature at Hunter College and in [public school](/source/State_school)s in [New York City](/source/New_York_City).{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/virginia-sanchezkorrol/ella-wolfe-womens-history_b_830969.html |title=Of Teachers and History: A Brooklyn Memoir |newspaper=Huffington Post |date=March 3, 2011 |first=Virginia Sanchez |last=Korro}} After Stalin aligned himself with [Hitler](/source/Adolf_Hitler) in 1939, Wolfe and her husband abandoned communism and became anti-communists. At the time, the couple found themselves hated by the left and distrusted by the political right.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/07/magazine/lives-they-lived-01-07-01-ella-goldberg-wolfe-b-1896-tale-three-centuries.html |title=The Lives They Lived: 01-07-01: Ella Goldberg Wolfe, b. 1896; A Tale of Three Centuries |newspaper=New York Times |date=January 7, 2001 |first=Sam |last=Tanenhaus}} In 1966, Wolfe moved to the [Hoover Institution](/source/Hoover_Institution) at [Stanford University](/source/Stanford_University), where she spent her time editing her husband's papers and providing eyewitness accounts to researchers of the historic times in which she lived. Wolfe was consulted by researchers for the film "[Reds](/source/Reds_(film))".{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2000/01/15/ella-goldberg-wolfe-a-figure-in-us-communism-movement-dies/5c2a6f47-7c3d-45ea-bf6f-e0411b7feeaa/ |title=Ella Goldberg Wolfe, a Figure in U.S. Communism Movement, Dies |newspaper=Washington Post |date=January 15, 2000}} ==Personal life and death== In 1910, Goldberg met Bertram Wolfe. They married in 1917. She became politically conservative and was a supporter of [Ronald Reagan](/source/Ronald_Reagan).{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2000/jan/17/guardianobituaries2 |title=Ella Goldberg Wolfe |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 17, 2009 |first=Godfrey |last=Hodgson}} She also became friends with [Edward Teller](/source/Edward_Teller), who was strongly anti-communist. Ella Goldberg Wolfe died age 103 on January 8, 2000, at home in [Palo Alto](/source/Palo_Alto%2C_California).{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/13/world/ella-goldberg-wolfe-103-communist-turned-reaganite-dies.html |title=Ella Goldberg Wolfe, 103, Communist Turned Reaganite, Dies |newspaper=New York Times |date=January 13, 2000 |first=Douglas |last=Martin}} == References == {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} == External links == * [https://nmwa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/4.3.4.2-frida_kahlo_papers_1907-1954.pdf Letters between Ella Wolfe and Frida Kahlo] at the [National Museum of Women in the Arts](/source/National_Museum_of_Women_in_the_Arts) {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolfe, Ella}} Category:1896 births Category:2000 deaths Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Category:American communists Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Hunter College faculty Category:People from Williamsburg, Brooklyn --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ella Wolfe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Wolfe) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Wolfe?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.