Chaikin, George, 1908-1992

George Chaikin (whose Communist Party name was George Auvan) was born in 1908 and raised in New York City. While at Princeton University, he was active in a movement to integrate movie theaters in Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton University in 1931. A mechanical engineer, Chaikin worked for the Works Progress Administration and taught at the Harlem Workers School. Active in politics, Chaikin was National Financial Secretary of the Young Communist League. He participated in numerous strikes and demonstrations, and spent ten days in the Tombs prison in New York City, accused of attacking a policeman during a march.

Chaikin sailed for Europe on the S.S. Washington, arriving in Spain in March 1937 to join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Chaikin applied his language facility (he spoke French, German, and Yiddish) and his engineering skills in the motor pools of the International and Spanish Brigades. He also worked for a medical unit. On his one visit to the front lines, Chaikin was wounded and partially crippled in the arm. While recovering in the hospital, he organized efforts to aid Spanish orphans. He left Spain when the International Brigades were evacuated from the country, sailing home on the S.S. Harding in late December 1938.

Chaikin's Spanish Civil War injury prevented him from active duty in World War II. Instead he worked for the United States defense industry as an engineer. His political activism during the McCarthy era brought upon Chaikin unwanted attentions from the U.S. government, severely damaging his career.

Chaikin and his wife, Elizabeth, had two sons, one of whom was mayor of Point Arena, California, and a daughter. Chaikin died in 1992.

From the guide to the George Chaikin Papers, 1937-1940, (Tamiment Library / Wagner Archives)