Elementary Principles of Philosophy

Georges Politzer was born in Nagyvarad, Hungary (currently Oradea, Romania) on May 3, 1903. He left his homeland after the defeat of Bela Kun’s abortive Soviet Republic, settling in France in 1921. He joined the French Communist Party, where he was in charge of the Economic Commission of the Central Committee. He taught at both the Workers’ University and the PCF’s central school, and was among the founding group of the revue La Pensée. His 1935-36 courses at the Worker’s University were posthumously published as Principes élémentaires de philosophie (Elementary Principles of Philosophy).