LONDON — Celia Pugh, a 50-year veteran of the communist movement, died March 4 after a long illness. She was 70. Pugh was a founding member of the Communist League in 1988 and served on its Central Committee.
She joined the League’s forerunner, the International Marxist Group, at the University of Essex in 1971, her companion, Pete Rosner, said. There she helped lead solidarity with the 1972 miners strike and became nationally prominent in the fight for women’s rights.
Pugh was part of the successful struggle to build communist parties in the U.K. and internationally that are working class in program, course of conduct and composition, taking jobs in metal working and in garment.
An effective advocate of the party’s program, she stood as a parliamentary candidate and worked full time for the London Pathfinder office, helping expand the distribution of books by Socialist Workers Party and other revolutionary working-class leaders.
The London branch of the Communist League is hosting a meeting to celebrate her life and political contributions on March 26. Further details will be announced in the Militant.