Ivan Leopoldovich Lorents (russian: Иван Леопольдович Лоренц) (2 October 1890 – 28 July 1941) was a Polish-born Soviet

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

. Lorents was born in Łódź in 1890. In 1913 he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Saint Petersburg University and went on to study at the Mikhailovsk Artillery School, where he graduated in 1915. Subsequent to graduation, he went into service in the

Russian Army The Russian Ground Forces (russian: Сухопутные войска �В Sukhoputnyye voyska V, also known as the Russian Army (, ), are the Army, land forces of the Russian Armed Forces. The primary responsibilities of the Russian Gro ...

. From March to June 1918, Lorents was attached to the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the

RSFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Petrograd 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 ...

when was sent to Berlin until November of that year to fulfill a position in Soviet Russia's representative in Germany. He returned to Moscow and worked for a month in the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs before joining the 15th Army on the Western Front for a year. In 1920, Lorents moved to

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and served as Secretary to the Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to Latvia. He served in that position for a year before going to Poland, where he fulfilled various positions. From 29 August 1923 until 9 July 1925, he was Plenipotentiary Representative of the USSR in Lithuania, followed by Plenipotentiary Representative of the Soviet Union in Finland from 9 July 1925 until 6 July 1927. During his time in Finland, from 24 January 1927, he also was concurrent Plenipotentiary Representative of the USSR in Latvia, and held that position until 14 September 1929. From 17 March 1935 to 31 September 1938, he was Plenipotentiary Representative of the Soviet Union in Austria in Vienna. On his return to the Soviet Union, Lorents was arrested by the NKVD on 15 October 1939 and sentenced to death on 7 July 1941 by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court for participation in "counter-revolutionary terrorist organisations" and espionage. He was executed on 28 July 1941 and buried in

Kommunarka Kommunarka is an urban-type settlement (posyolok) in Sosenskoye Settlement, Novomoskovsky Administrative Okrug, Moscow, Russia. The Kommunarka (Sokolnicheskaya line) station opened in 2019. History A mass burial site of the late 1930s, known as ...

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally "under Moscow"), is a federal subject of Rus ...

. Lorents was posthumously rehabilitated by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court in April 1956.

References

1890 births 1941 deaths Diplomats from Łódź People from Piotrków Governorate Bolsheviks Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Austria Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Lithuania Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Latvia Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Finland Russian military personnel of World War I Executed Soviet people Polish people executed by the Soviet Union Executed people from Łódź Voivodeship Polish people detained by the NKVD Soviet people of Polish descent Soviet rehabilitations {{USSR-politician-stub