Isaak Khristoforovich Lalayants (pseudonyms: ''Columbus, Izarov, Insarov'' et al.; ,

Kizlyar Kizlyar (russian: Кизля́р; av, Гъизляр; kum, Къызлар, ''Qızlar'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the border with the Chechen Republic in the river delta ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

– 14 July 1933, Moscow,

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

) was a Russian revolutionary, Marxist,

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

and comrade-in-arms of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...

. He was a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) since 1898 and member of its Central Committee from 1905 to 1906.

Early youth

Isaak Lalayants was born in to an

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

family in the town of Kizlyar, in

Terek Oblast The Terek Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, roughly corresponding to the central part of Russia's North Caucasian Federal District. Тhe ''оblast'' was created out of the former territories of t ...

. After learning initial Armenian literacy, he is sent to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, where he enters the first class of the

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

. During the transition to second grade, he was transferred to the

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

real school, which he graduates in 1889. In Kazan, Lalayants got acquainted with the circle of the prominent Russian Marxist Nikolai Fedoseev, who made a very strong impression on him. Lalayants subsequently writes that Fedoseev possessed a strong and deep mind, that he was "a man with brilliant talents both in the field of theory and practice". In the years 1888–1889, Lalayants joins the Marxist circle of Fedoseev, under whose leadership he began to study Marxist literature. He studied at the Kazan Imperial University, but was expelled in 1889 after being arrested for participating in the revolutionary movement. He was deported from Kazan with an interdiction for an indefinite period to return there.In his autobiographical questionnaire, Lalayants writes that he was first arrested at 19 years old, the second time at 22 years old, the third at 29 years old, the fourth at 34 years old, the fifth at 36 years old. Legguards fettered for 10 months, until 1917 he stayed for 11 years ( GARF and SS, file 619/s, case 1651). For around two years, he stayed in different cities of Russia, serving military service in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia (country), Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range ...

. In

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...

he conducted social democratic propaganda in the workers' circles of Sormovo, the workshops of the Kurbatov shipping company and others. In the autumn of 1892, Lalayants returned to Kazan, continuing revolutionary propaganda in social democratic circles among students and young workers. Together with local Marxists, he studied the works of

Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
''

Plekhanov and

Kautsky Karl Johann Kautsky (; ; 16 October 1854 – 17 October 1938) was a Czech-Austrian philosopher, journalist, and Marxist theorist. Kautsky was one of the most authoritative promulgators of orthodox Marxism after the death of Friedrich Engels in ...

. He also led heated discussions with the

Narodniks The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...

. Lalayants translated Engels's ''

The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State ''The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State: in the Light of the Researches of Lewis H. Morgan'' (german: Der Ursprung der Familie, des Privateigenthums und des Staats) is an 1884 philosophical treatise by Friedrich Engels. It is p ...

'' (1884) and Kautsky's ''The Economic Doctrines of Karl Marx'' (1887). He managed to establish contact with the publishing house J. W. H. Dietz (owned by

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been t ...

politician Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Dietz) in Stuttgart and to receive Marxist literature from there. "I personally" writes Lalayants, "was able to receive by mail directly from Dietz from Stuttgart, also in German, ''The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State'' by Fr. Engels. Thanks to some cunning Dietz (according to my warning about our customs censorship) Engels's book was skillfully woven into some '

double-entry bookkeeping Double-entry bookkeeping, also known as double-entry accounting, is a method of bookkeeping that relies on a two-sided accounting entry to maintain financial information. Every entry to an account requires a corresponding and opposite entry t ...

' of some Schmidt, as a result of which it slipped across our border as a completely innocent thing. The gendarmerie seized it from me at the time of my arrest, half translated by me".

Work with young Lenin

In January 1893, Lalayants was arrested again and deported to Samara, where he spends the first days at the apartment of former

Narodnaya Volya Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

member Nikolay Dolgov, getting acquainted with Lenin and, through him, with Alexei Sklyarenko and other local Marxists. Lalayants recalls his first meeting with Lenin as follows: "The next day (after coming to Samara) I went to Dolgov's. ..Then someone knocked on the door – a young man around 22–23 years old entered. In front of me stood a man with unusual appearance, somehow immediately disposing himself. It was V. I. Ulyanov. He really impressed me then. In this twenty-three-year-old man, simplicity, sensitivity, cheerfulness and shyness, on the one hand, and solidity and depth of knowledge, ruthless logical sequence, lucidity and clarity of judgments and definitions, on the other, were combined in an amazing way. Samara immediately ceased to seem to me such a wilderness, and after that first meeting I was glad that I chose it myself". In Samara, Lalayants entered the illegal social democratic circle led by Lenin. Together with Lenin and Sklyarenko, he conducts extensive propaganda work (mainly among students and workers in railway workshops), also against the representatives of

Narodism The Narodniks (russian: народники, ) were a politically conscious movement of the Russian intelligentsia in the 1860s and 1870s, some of whom became involved in revolutionary agitation against tsarism. Their ideology, known as Narodism, ...

. In June 1894, Lalayants receives a sentence in the Kazan case: 10 months of solitary confinement and 3 years of public surveillance. He was arrested and sent to

Kresty Prison Kresty (russian: Кресты, literally ''Crosses'') prison, officially Investigative Isolator No. 1 of the Administration of the Federal Service for the Execution of Punishments for the city of Saint Petersburg (Следственный изо� ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Learning about the fact that Lalayants is in the "Saint Petersburg Prison for Solitary Confinement" (official name under Imperial Russia), Lenin, through the student Olga Ivanovna Chachina, establishes contact with him, sending him literature ('' The Development of the Monist View of History'' (1895) by Georgi Plekhanov, among others). "Thanks to the care of Vladimir Ilyich, I was a bit aware of at least the newly published legal literature" recalls Lalayants. Upon liberation on 24 April 1895, Lalayants meets with Lenin and goes to Moscow, where he visits Lenin's relatives. "All... evening and part of the next day," writes Lalayants, "we were always together. From the stories of V. I., I learned a lot of interesting things about the life and work of the Petersburg circles; in particular, about the clandestine literary work of Vladimir Ilyich. From his words, I could conclude that in St. Petersburg, at that time, propaganda and even agitation work was quite firmly and widely established, especially among the workers of large factories; he also talked a lot about ''Materials for the Characterization of Our Economic Development'' (collection of articles), prepared for release, and about the disputes with Struve, about his relations with him. For me, the active and leading role of Vladimir Ilyich in all these works began to appear with sufficient clarity, although he himself did not stress it at all". Lalayants leaves for

Penza Penza ( rus, Пе́нза, p=ˈpʲɛnzə) is the largest city and administrative center of Penza Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Sura River, southeast of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, Penza had a population of 517,311, making it the 38th-la ...

. In September 1895, Lenin wrote a letter to Lalayants about his return from abroad. Lalayants hastens to Moscow to meet with Lenin. Returning to Penza after his meeting, he brings with him Lenin's illegal Marxist literature of foreign publication and a copy of ''Materials for the Characterization of Our Economic Development'', which includes Lenin's work ''The Economic Content of Narodism and the Criticism of it in Mr. Struve's Book'', published under the pseudonym K. Tulin. Lenin commissions Lalayants to continue his revolutionary work in the proletarian center of

Ekaterinoslav Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

Revolutionary activity in Ekaterinoslav

Towards the end of September 1895, Isaak Lalayants moved to Ekaterinoslav with his wife and revolutionary Praskovia Ivanovna Kulyabko. On their way to Moscow, Lalayants meets with Lenin and receives a letter of recommendation from him. "On the same day," writes Lalayants, "he managed to get a letter for me to one of the responsible workers in the Ekaterinoslav Railroad Administration – this is already a part of presenting me with some earnings, which was very significant for me as someone under surveillance, moreover in a completely unfamiliar city". In Ekaterinoslav –in the large workers' center of the south of RussiaIn Ekaterinoslav and its surroundings at that time there were about 25,000 workers.– Lalayants conducted large revolutionary work among factory and railway workers. He takes an active role in the creation of the local

League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class The St. Petersburg League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class (russian: Союз борьбы за освобождение рабочего класса, ''Sojuz borʹby za osvobozhdenie rabochego klassa,'' known sometimes in En ...

and in the preparations for the first congress of the RSDLP. In the early spring of 1897, Lalayants, together with

Ivan Babushkin Ivan Vasilyevich Babushkin () (pseudonym Nikolay Nikolaevich) (January 3, 1873 – January 18, 1906) was a Russian professional Bolshevik revolutionary. Early Years Babushkin was born in the ''selo'' of Ledengskoye, Totemsky Uyezd of Vologd ...

–a faithful pupil of Lenin exiled to Ekaterinoslav–, restore local Marxist circles (Lalayants leads the Ekaterinoslav "Central Social Democratic Group", and Babushkin, the workers' group) and in December 1897 unite them in one social democratic organisation called the Ekaterinoslav League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. For three or four years, Babushkin, Lalayants,

Grigory Petrovsky Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky (russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Петро́вский, uk, Григо́рій Іва́нович Петро́вський, translit=Hryhorii Ivanovych Petrovskyi) (3 February 1878 - 9 January 1958) wa ...

Mikhail Tskhakaya Mikhail Grigoryevich Tskhakaya ( ka, მიხეილ გრიგოლის ძე ცხაკაია, russian: Михаил Григорьевич Цхакая; 4 May 1865 — 19 March 1950), also known as Barsov, was a Georgian revolution ...

, Kazymyr Adamovich Petrusevych, P. A. Morozov, and other experienced revolutionaries, under strict clandestinity, save the local social democratic organisation from failure. Comrades of Lalayants in the underground struggle characterized him as a man with great organisational talent, who managed for several years to lead the Ekaterinoslav social democrats. Through Lalayants, Babushkin and others, the Ekaterinoslav League, closely associated with the St. Petersburg League, receives literature from them and distributes it. Following the example of St. Petersburg League, the Ekaterinoslav League takes the path of transition to mass agitation; launches extensive organisational, agitation and propaganda activities among the workers, and seeks to expand its activities to neighboring cities, contributing to the emergence of social democratic circles in the Donbas. In the publications and leaflets of the Ekaterinoslav League, widely distributed among the

proletarians The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philo ...

, the League talks about the urgent needs of the workers, the need for an organised struggle against

tsarism Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states th ...

and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

. Along with the St. Petersburg League, the Ekaterinoslav League is one of the first to start laying the revolutionary traditions of the mass social democratic labour movement. In March 1898, Ekaterinoslav League representative Kazymyr Petrusevych attends the first congress of the RSDLP, which forms the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Returning to Ekaterinoslav after the congress, Petrusevych presents the resolutions of the congress to Lalayants and is arrested that same night. At a meeting of local social democrats, Lalayants reports on the first congress of the RSDLP. It is decided to reorganise the Ekaterinoslav League into the "Ekaterinoslav Committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party". In January 1899, the Ekaterinoslav social democrats, addressing the Ekaterinoslav workers with a special proclamation on the occasion of the First Congress, wrote: "So, comrades, we will strive hard for the best part and we will wholeheartedly rejoice at the emergence of the workers' party as a messenger of a better future". After almost three years of staying and working in Ekaterinoslav, Lalayants goes to

and

Voronezh Voronezh ( rus, links=no, Воро́неж, p=vɐˈronʲɪʂ}) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on ...

. At the end of the summer of 1899, he returns to Ekaterinoslav and resumes his work at the local party committee. Together with Ivan Babushkin and Mikhail Tskhakaya, he conducts a struggle against the so-called "

Economists An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

" to unite local social democrats on Marxist positions. At that time, the Ekaterinoslav Committee had about 25 propaganda circles, which united up to 200 advanced workers. The Committee, led by Babushkin, Lalayants, Tskhakaya, and Grigory Petrovsky, educated them in the spirit of a political struggle for the fundamental interests of the working class, and directed the strike movement.

Creation of ''Yuzhny Rabochy''

In January 1900, on the initiative of Babushkin and Lalayants, the illegal social democrat newspaper ''

Yuzhny Rabochy ''Yuzhny Rabochy'' ( rus, Южный рабочий, p=ˈjuʐnɨj rɐˈbot͡ɕɪj, "Southern Worker") was a Social-Democratic group formed in the South of Russia in the autumn of 1900 around an illegal newspaper of that name. Among the members of t ...

'' (''The Southern Worker'') begins to be published, which played an important role in the development of the revolutionary workers' movement in southern Russia. The first editors of ''Yuzhny Rabochy'' are Lalayants, A. A. Mashitsky and S. K. Kharchenko. "...In January 1900, the long-awaited newspaper ''Yuzhny Rabochy'' finally came out" recalls Ivan Babushkin. "At the workers' committee meeting it was partially read. ..At the

Bryansk Bryansk ( rus, Брянск, p=brʲansk) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), River Desna, southwest of Moscow. Population: Geography Urban la ...

factory, workers found one copy and were very surprised by the content: "Look, it's like a real newspaper! There, and even chronicles and correspondence!" And then they went to a secluded place to read the newspaper. This first newspaper remained in their memory for a long time and raised the mood, as they saw that, in spite of the arrests, the activity not only did not decrease, but, on the contrary, everything became more skillful and strong". In March 1900, Lalayants Met with Lenin in Moscow and agreed on a number of issues, including the organisation of the

second congress of the RSDLP The 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held during July 30–August 23 (July 17–August 10, O.S.) 1903, starting in Brussels, Belgium (until August 6) and ending in London. Probably as a result of diplomatic pressure ...

abroad. "Approximately in the middle of March," Lalayants recalls, "I think, having previously agreed, I went to Moscow, directly to the Ulyanovs'. Vladimir Ilyich and I found ourselves at home; these days he lived in Moscow, with his family, and, it seems, by special permission, since after exile he was forbidden to stay in Moscow and St. Petersburg. There is no need to say how happy it was for us to meet again after almost five years of being apart. During this time, so much accumulated about what to tell, not to mention the main reason for which I came. The two days with him and his family flew completely unnoticed for me. Vladimir Ilyich was extremely attentive to my information about the state of affairs in the south in general and especially in Ekaterinoslav".

Arrest, exile and escape from Siberia

Lalayants responds warmly to Lenin's plan for the creation of the newspaper ''

Iskra ''Iskra'' ( rus, Искра, , ''the Spark'') was a political newspaper of Russian socialist emigrants established as the official organ of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). History Due to political repression under Tsar Nicho ...

'' and the gathering of the party around this newspaper. In April 1900, shortly after returning from a detour about the convocation of the second party congress, Lalayants is arrested and, among others, sent to Kiev's

Lukyanivska Prison Lukianivska Prison ( uk, Лук'янівська в'язниця, transliterated: "Luk'janivsjka v'jaznitsja") is a famous historical prison in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, located in the central Lukianivka neighborhood of the city. It is officiall ...

, and then to the Moscow's Taganka and

Butyrka Butyrskaya prison ( rus, Бутырская тюрьма, r= Butýrskaya tyurmá), usually known simply as Butyrka ( rus, Бутырка, p=bʊˈtɨrkə), is a prison in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow, Russia. In Imperial Russia i ...

prisons, where he stays until the spring of 1902. In March 1902, Lalayants is sent to exile to Eastern

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...

, but he does not reach his destination. He stops at Balagansk, Irkutsk Governorate, where, thanks to the care of Lenin, he receives a passport, money, and, through Samara, Saratov and

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also #Etymology and other names, other names) is the capital and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the munic ...

in early July 1902, flees abroad to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and then

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

. "I stayed in Samara for about a day," recalls Lalayants. "

Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova (russian: Мари́я Ильи́нична Улья́нова; , Simbirsk – 12 June 1937, Moscow) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, politician, and the younger sister of Vladimir Lenin and Anna Ulyanova. Biogra ...

met me there, who gave me additional instructions, instructions, etc. on the journey ahead to the border and abroad; she also arranged for me to spend the night somewhere, I remember, at a

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

near Samara, with her good friends. However there, it seems, I did not meet with anyone, for purely conspiratorial reasons. In Saratov, where I went by boat from Samara to meet there with my wife and continue the journey together with her, I did not stay long. I managed, however, to dress in a "liberal" suit just in case, and almost the same day I went from there together with Praskovia Ivanovna directly to Vilna". During all these years, Lenin had been tirelessly following Lalayants's life and revolutionary activities, and is in correspondence with him.The letters between Lenin and Lalayants have been lost. In 18 May 1897, in a letter from the village of

Shushenskoye Shushenskoye ( rus, Шу́шенское, p=ˈʂuʂɨnskəjɛ) is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Shushensky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Yenisei and Big S ...

to Moscow, to his mother Maria Alexandrovna and sister Maria Ilyinichna, Lenin asks: "What news is there of Columbus?One of Isaak Lalayants's pseudonyms. I have heard that he is married and is ill. Do you know anything about him?" In October of the same year, in a letter to his mother, Lenin says: "The doctor (from the north) asks me to give you his regards.Lenin refers to Alexei P. Sklyarenko. (I correspond with him and Columbus fairly regularly)".

Activity in Geneva

On request of the party and personally Lenin, Lalayants moves to

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

, where he continues his revolutionary work. He knows that in the near future the editorial board of ''Iskra'' and Lenin would move from London to Geneva. "In those years," writes Lalayants, "in Geneva there lived a mass of Russians of all ages and all views, ranging from radical democratic to the

socialist revolutionary The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

, anarchist and social democratic elements. Of course, the young people were predominantly socialist, predominantly revolutionary. The abundance of Russians (more precisely, the Russians) gave even a special imprint to the entire city, and the 'Russians' (the Swiss-Genevans poured out all natives of Russia, regardless of their nationality, into one bunch: the 'Russians'), once in Geneva, they began to feel 'at home'. It was not for nothing that some jokers suggested renaming Geneva to "the city of Geneva, the Swiss province"... On the other hand, it was already at that time that Geneva became the largest and most vibrant center of Russian foreign political life in comparison with other European cities. While in Geneva, Lalayants gets acquainted with the latest Marxist literature, reads ''Iskra'' and '' Zarya'', studies Lenin's book ''

What Is To Be Done? ''What Is to Be Done? Burning Questions of Our Movement'' is a political pamphlet written by Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin (credited as N. Lenin) in 1901 and published in 1902. Lenin said that the article represented "a skeleton plan t ...

'' (1902), often meets and talks with Georgi Plekhanov, and is in correspondence with Lenin. "Lenin's book ''What Is To Be Done?''," writes Lalayants, "twenty-two already published numbers of ''Iskra'', two books of the magazine ''Zarya'' and some other things, and, finally, the mentioned project of the party program of ''Iskra'' and ''Zarya'', on one hand. On the other hand, quite frequent conversations with Plekhanov on various topics and the correspondence with Lenin gave me the opportunity, before being separated from living life for more than two years, in a relatively short time, to become familiar with the state of affairs, to get acquainted in detail with the direction of ''Iskra'' and their views on the program, tactics and organization". At Lenin's suggestion, Lalayants and Praskovia Kulyabko are admitted to the

League of Russian Revolutionary Social Democracy Abroad League of Russian Revolutionary Social-Democracy Abroad was a Russian emigre political organisation, founded by Lenin in October 1901. The Iskra organisation abroad and the Sotsial-Demokrat revolutionary organisation (which included the Emancipation ...

, joining the Leninist group of assistance to the ''Iskra'' organisation. In Geneva, Lalayants is in charge of the printing house of ''Iskra'', he leads circles among the Russian student colony and the ''Iskra'' support groups. "In the winter and spring of 1902–03," writes Lalayants, "I had several circles of self-education and propaganda, consisting mainly of Russian students, a very revolutionary and very sympathetic social democracy of the ''Iskra'' trend...". Lenin is very interested in the activities of Lalayants and gives him instructions. In a letter to Plekhanov, dated 19 December 1902, Lenin expresses his concern over a member of the printing house: "LevinsonMember of the ''Iskra'' printing-shop staff. In 1904–1905, a member of the RSDLP(b) is threatening to leave because Lalayants was made manager of the printery and he has quarreled with him. I wrote Lalayants asking him to "smooth" things out. Perhaps you too could help to calm down Levinson and impress it on Lalayants to handle him "with care". I am sending to the printers (to Lalayants) the beginning of the translation of Kautsky and a popular pamphlet on army life. Please look through it at least in proofs". In a letter dated 28 January 1903, Lenin asks through Plekhanov that Lalayants or someone else translates and sends to London relevant materials from the Armenian Marxist newspaper of Leninist-Iskraist trend ''Proletariat'', organ of the League of Armenian Social Democrats. "I am sending you ''Proletariat'' as well." writes Lenin, "Please ask Lalayants or somebody else ''to translate in full everything'' in it about

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

and '' federalism'' and send it to me ''as soon as possible''. An item on this should be published without fail (the piece sent in needs editing and for this we must have the text)".After reading the translation, Lenin writes an article on the matter called ''On the Manifesto of the Armenian Social-Democrats'', published in No. 33 of ''Iskra'', on 1 February 1903. After the

, Lenin, through a confident and himself, returning to Geneva, informs Lalayants about the work of the congress and gives him a number of instructions; to go to Russia and to acquaint the Central Committee and the Southern Committees in detail about the whole course of events in connection with the split between

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

and

Mensheviks The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions em ...

at the congress. "There is no need to say with what intense, unflagging attention I followed all the way to the very end of the story of Vladimir Ilyich" recalls Lalayants.

Return to Russia

In this difficult period for the party, Lalayants, along with

Rosalia Zemlyachka Rosalia Samoilovna Zemlyachka, née Zalkind (russian: link=no, Розалия Самойловна Землячка, рожд. Залкинд; 20 March 187621 January 1947) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. As a revolutionary, she ...

Nikolay Bauman Nikolay Ernestovich Bauman () ( – ) was a Russian revolutionary of the Bolshevik Party. His death in a struggle with a royalist upon his release from Taganka Prison in 1905 made him one of the first martyrs of the Revolution, and later o ...

Elena Stasova Elena Dmitriyevna Stasova ( rus, Елена Дмитриевна Стасова; 15 October Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._3_October.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/> O.S._3_October">Old_Style_and_New_St ...

Maxim Litvinov Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (; born Meir Henoch Wallach; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat. A strong advocate of diplomatic agreements leading towards disarmament, Litvinov w ...

Sergey Ivanovich Gusev Sergei Ivanovich Gusev (AKA "Gussev") (Russian: Серге́й Ива́нович Гу́сев) (real name - Yakov Davidovich Drabkin: Russian — Я́ков Дави́дович Дра́бкин) (1 January 1874 – 10 June 1933) was a Russian re ...

, Lydia Mikhailovna Knipovich, and other professional Bolshevik revolutionaries, endure on their shoulders the main burden of the struggle against the Mensheviks in Russia. Lalayants returned to Russia immediately after the congress. Via

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, Paris and

, he goes to Kiev, where he meets with

Gleb Krzhizhanovsky Gleb Maximilianovich Krzhizhanovsky (russian: Глеб Максимилианович Кржижановский; 24 January 1872 – 31 March 1959) was a Soviet scientist, statesman, revolutionary, Old Bolshevik, and state figure as well as a geo ...

, member of the Central Committee, and the Ulyanov family. "The mission then was assigned to me by Lenin and Lengnik,Friedrich Wilhelmovich Lengnik (1873–1936), Soviet party and state leader, organiser of professional education in the RSFSR. Member of the RSDLP since 1893." writes Lalayants, "to immediately go to Russia, to acquaint the Central Committee as fully as possible on the entire course of events that took place before the opening of the League Congress, during the Congress itself and in the early days of its closure, and in every possible way insist on the speedy departure from Geneva of Krzhizhanovsky and yet another member of the Central Committee. My departure from Geneva took place four or five days after the end of the Congress of the League and the turn of Plekhanov, on November 4 or 5, 1903". "The late Knunyants (Ruben-Rusov)," continues Lalayants, "one of the Caucasian delegates at the second congress of the party, supplied me with his "own" passport in the name of some Persian subject named Jean Jacob Leon... At the address given to me, I went to meet Krzhizhanovsky. I told him in a few words about the purpose of my visit. We agreed to meet that same evening at the meeting together with the other available members of the Central Committee, at which I would give detailed information. After parting till evening, I went with the proper precautions to search for the Ulyanov family, who also lived in Kiev at the time, and with whom I had not seen each other for about four years (since my talks with Vladimir Ilyich in Moscow in March 1900 about the then proposed convocation of the second congress). I found only Maria Alexandrovna and Anna Ilyinichna at home. After a lively conversation, parting, Anna Ilyinichna and I meet again before my departure from Kiev to go to the meeting place, at her suggestion, at Vladimir Cathedral. In the evening, as was agreed with Krzhizhanovsky, I arrived at the designated place; there were five or six people at that time completely unknown to me. I spoke in the most detailed manner about the recent events abroad, answered a number of questions asked to me in connection with my information, constantly telling me again and again the importance and the need for the speedy departure to Geneva of two members of the Central Committee, including necessarily Krzhizhanovsky." On the advice of Lenin, in February 1904, the agents of the Central Committee of the party

Vatslav Vorovsky Vatslav Vatslavovich Vorovsky ( Russian: Ва́цлав Ва́цлавович Воро́вский; Polish: Wacław Worowski) (27 October Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._15_October.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title ...

, Lalayants, Kulyabko and K. O. Levitsky, create the Southern Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSDLP in Odessa, which unites the work of the Odessa, Ekaterinoslav, and Nikolayev committees and establishes links with the Northern Bureau. The Southern Bureau launches an active campaign for the convocation of the

third RSDLP congress The 3rd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held during 25 April - 10 May Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="12–27_April_Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S.)1905_in_ O.S.)">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;" ...

. Lalayants is at the center of this all-party work. He takes an active part in the compilation, printing and distribution of the detailed resolution of the Odessa Committee of the RSDLP, which sharply condemns "both the nature of the struggle of the Mensheviks and the methods used by them in this struggle". It is pointed out that the only way out of this 'intolerable situation' is "the fastest convocation of the Third Congress, which alone can put an end to this completely abnormal state". The Odessa Committee urges the rest of the party's committees to adhere to its demand for the convocation of the Third Congress. In June 1904, Lalayants is again arrested and in January 1905 exiled to the

Vologda Governorate Vologda Governorate (russian: link=no, Вологодская губерния, ''Vologodskaya guberniya'', ''Government of Vologda'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed fr ...

, but again flees and arrives at the end of spring in St. Petersburg. Lalayants was an active participant in the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

. After the Third Party Congress, he is co-opted into the Bolshevik Central Committee, and on the instructions of Lenin, he unites a whole series of Party committees and instructs them. In 1906, as a member of the Central Committee, Lalayants leads a great deal of work in military organisations. After a short stay abroad (at the beginning of 1906), he works in St. Petersburg for the Narva outpost; as a member of the Petersburg Committee, he edits its organ-newspaper ''Kazarma''. Lalayants is one of the main organisers and chairman of the first conference of the military organisations of the party in

Tammerfors Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, where he makes a report on the role of the party in the armed uprising. Lenin closely follows the progress of the conference, giving a positive assessment of his work.

Exile to Irkutsk and illness

In December 1906, Lalayants was arrested and after two years of

pre-trial detention Remand, also known as pre-trial detention, preventive detention, or provisional detention, is the process of detaining a person until their trial after they have been arrested and charged with an offence. A person who is on remand is held i ...

, he was convicted to 6 years of hard labour, serving in the St. Petersburg remand prison and in the

Shlisselburg Fortress The fortress at Shlisselburg is one of a series of fortifications built in Shlisselburg on Orekhovy Island in Lake Ladoga, near the present-day city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. The first fortress was built in 1323. It was the scene of many confli ...

. At the end of 1913, he is exiled to an eternal settlement in Eastern Siberia: the Biryulskaya Volost of Verkholensky District, Irkutsk Governorate. In the fall of 1914, Lalayants settles in Irkutsk, where he lives until 1921. Hard labour has made him severely ill, and has since withdrawn from the party and politics. On a letter to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, dated 20 October 1921, Lenin wrote: At the end of 1921, Lenin summons Lalayants to Moscow, showing concern for him and paying him much attention.

Return to politics and final years

From 1922, Lalayants worked in the Main Political Administration of the

People's Commissariat for Education The People's Commissariat for Education (or Narkompros; russian: Народный комиссариат просвещения, Наркомпрос, directly translated as the "People's Commissariat for Enlightenment") was the Soviet agency charge ...

. In the last years of his life he writes his memoirs of Lenin and the party, from the very beginning of the birth of Bolshevism, to the struggle of Lenin's leadership for the creation and consolidation of party organisations. He retired in 1929. Isaak Khristoforovich Lalayants died on 14 July 1933 after a long illness. In a pamphlet published in ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

'', with the signature of Maria Ilyinichna Ulyanova,

Dmitry Ilyich Ulyanov Dmitri Ilyich Ulyanov (russian: Дми́трий Ильи́ч Улья́нов; – 16 July 1943) was a Russian and Soviet physician and revolutionary, the younger brother of Aleksandr Ulyanov and Vladimir Lenin. As a medical student at Lo ...

, V. Vishnyak and other old Bolsheviks, it was written: "For a number of years since the beginning of the 1890s, Lalayants was one of Lenin's comrades-in-arms and friend. ...Both at work, and in prison, exile and hard labour, Lalayants enjoyed universal respect and love. Strict to others, he was especially strict towards himself. It can be said that before the revolution he was one of Lenin's best students and associates. Prison and penal servitude undermined the health of Lalayants and he had to quit his job soon. Lalayants's name is connected with the pre-revolutionary struggle of the Bolsheviks against the Narodniks and against the Mensheviks for the Leninist line. His great erudition, his solid theoretical godliness, his ardent revolutionary temperament put him in the forefront of revolutionary Social-Democracy". Isaak Lalayants is buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Memorials

* A street in Kizlyar, Lalayants's birthplace, bears his name. * Another street in

Makhachkala Makhachkala ( rus, Махачкала, , məxətɕkɐˈla, links=yes),; av, Махӏачхъала, Maħaçqala; ce, ХӀинжа-ГӀала, Hinƶa-Ġala; az, Маһачгала, Mahaçqala; nog, Махачкала; lbe, Махачкъала; ...

, capital of Dagestan, is also named after him.

Works

* ''At the Origins of Bolshevism'' (1930)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalayants, Isaak 1870 births 1933 deaths Members of the Central Committee of the 1st Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Switzerland Old Bolsheviks People from Kizlyar People from Terek Oblast People of the 1905 Russian Revolution Russian communists Russian exiles to Siberia Russian Marxists Russian revolutionaries Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Soviet politicians Inmates of Kresty Prison Prisoners of Shlisselburg fortress