Biography
Tisa, John. b. April 6, 1914, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Italian American of mixed Cuban and Italian descent; Father Benedetto Tisa, mother Maria Tisa; Attended Brookwood Labor College and Charles Morris Price School of Journalism; CMT 1932 and 1933, Camp Dix, Cadet Sergeant; Single; Writer WPA; YCL and CP 1935, Organizer YCL, Spanish CP, Cannery Workers Union; Received Passport# 359499 on December 31, 1936 which listed his address as 214 Benson Street, Camden, New Jersey; Sailed January 5, 1937 aboard the Champlain; Arrived in Spain on January 13, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, Lincoln BN, Co. 2; June 1, 1937 selected for the Historical Commission and helped publish the Book of the XVth Brigade; Later with Commissariat Service and Assistant Editor and Editor of The Volunteer; Served at Jarama; Returned to the US on April 15, 1939 aboard the George Washington; WWII Armed forces; d. December 12, 1991; Spoke Italian, German, Spanish, and English.
Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Cadre; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 1002, ll. 34-47; ALBA PHOTO 173 John Tisa Photographs; [John Tisa] The Story of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion: Written in the Trenches of Spain (1938), Recalling the Good Fight, and The Palette and the Flame; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A
Saga of an Ambulance – by John Tisa, The Volunteer. Volume 4, Number 2, 1982, reprinted The Volunteer Blog, posted January 24, 2018.
Photographs: John Tisa. Four Photograph courtesy Tisa family, and RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 1002.
Sources: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Cadre; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 1002, ll. 34-47; ALBA PHOTO 173 John Tisa Photographs; [John Tisa] The Story of the Abraham Lincoln Battalion: Written in the Trenches of Spain (1938), Recalling the Good Fight, and The Palette and the Flame; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A
Saga of an Ambulance – by John Tisa, The Volunteer. Volume 4, Number 2, 1982, reprinted The Volunteer Blog, posted January 24, 2018.
Photographs: John Tisa. Four Photograph courtesy Tisa family, and RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 6, Delo 1002.