Death of Salme Dutt in London

Salme Dutt died in London on 16 October 1963, bringing to a close a life devoted to international communist organising that spanned Finland, Russia, Germany, Britain and the wider Comintern apparatus.

By the time of her death, Salme had spent over four decades as a committed revolutionary, having worked closely with the Communist International (Comintern) in various capacities including translation, organisation, and liaison work between national communist parties. She was also the wife of Rajani Palme Dutt, the influential theoretician and long-time leader of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB), whom she supported both personally and politically throughout their marriage.

Her death marked the passing of one of the generation of women revolutionaries who had been shaped by the upheavals of the Russian Revolution and the subsequent growth of international communism in the interwar period. Although she often worked in the shadow of her more publicly prominent husband, Salme's own contributions to the international communist movement—particularly her linguistic skills and her role in Comintern communications—were significant to the functioning of the organisation during a critical period of its history.

Her passing was noted within communist circles in Britain, where she had lived for much of her later life, and she is remembered as part of the network of dedicated internationalist women who sustained the practical work of the communist movement across national borders.