Steve Nelson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stjepan Mesaroš January 1, 1903 |
| Died | December 11, 1993 (aged 90) |
| Alma mater | International Lenin School New York Workers School |
| Political party | Communist Party USA (1925–1957) |
| Spouse | Margaret Yaeger (m. 1925) |
| Children | 2; Josephine and Robert |
| Parents |
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| Military Service | |
| Allegiance |  Spanish Republic |
| Service | Spanish Republican Army |
| Unit | |
| Battles / wars | |
Stjepan Mesaroš (January 1, 1903 – December 11, 1993) was a Croatian-born American labor activist. After immigrating to the United States in 1920, he adopted the name Steve Nelson. He was one of nearly 3,000 American volunteers who joined the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in the Spanish Civil War, where he served as a political commissar. For years, he was a leading functionary of the Communist Party, USA. He achieved public notoriety in the early 1950s when he was convicted and imprisoned under the Pennsylvania Sedition Act and the federal Smith Act. He is perhaps best remembered as the defendant in Pennsylvania v. Nelson, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1956 which invalidated state sedition laws.[1]
- ^ Pace, Eric (14 December 1993). "Steve Nelson, Ex-Communist Tied To Ruling on Sedition, Dies at 90". The New York Times.