Vatslav Vatslavovich Vorovsky on:  
[Wikipedia]  
[Google]  
[Amazon]
Vatslav Vatslavovich Vorovsky (
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: Ва́цлав Ва́цлавович Воро́вский;
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
: Wacław Worowski) (27 October
Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 15 October">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 15 October1871 – 10 May 1923) was a Russian Bolsheviks">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 ...
, Marxist revolutionary, literary critic, publicist and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Soviet diplomat. One of the first Soviet diplomats, Vorovsky is best remembered as the victim of a May 1923 political
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
in
Lausanne
, neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, where he was the official representative of the Soviet government to the
Conference of Lausanne.
Biography
Early years
Vatslav Vorovsky was born on 27 October 1871 (n.s.) in Moscow, the son of an ethnically
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
but
Russified
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Great B ...
and engineer.
[Branko Lazitch with Milorad M. Drachkovitch, ''Biographical Dictionary of the Comintern: New, Revised, and Expanded Edition.'' Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1986; pp. 498–499.] His father died when he was a year old, and he was raised by his mother. Following the completion of
secondary school
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...
. In 1890, Vorovsky enrolled at the
University of Moscow
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
, where he was exposed to the ideas of political radicalism.
Political career
In his autobiography, Vorovsky dated his involvement with the socialist movement from 1894, when he made contact with workers' circles in Moscow.
He was arrested by the
Tsarist
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 ...
secret police
Secret police (or political police) are intelligence, security or police agencies that engage in covert operations against a government's political, religious, or social opponents and dissidents. Secret police organizations are characteristic of a ...
in 1897, held for two years in
Taganka Prison Taganka Prison (Russian: Таганская тюрьма) was built in Moscow in 1804 by Alexander I, emperor of Russia.Katrina Marie"Taganka: The Haunts of Intelligentsia and Blue-Collar Grit"''Passport Moscow''. Retrieved December 5, 2011 It gaine ...
, then exiled in 1899 to the city of
Orlov
Orlov may refer to:
Places
*Orlov, Russia (''Orlova''), several inhabited localities in Russia
*Orlov, Stará Ľubovňa District, village in Eastern Slovakia
*Orlová, a town in Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic
People
*Orlov (family) ...
.
Upon his release, Vorovsky adopted a new underground
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
, "P. Orlovsky," as a tribute to this experience.
During the course of his underground career, Vorovsky also used the pseudonyms "Y. Adamovich," "M. Schwarz," "Josephine," and "Felix Alexandrovich."
Vorovsky emigrated to Europe in 1902, spending time in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland.
He acted as an agent for 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 ...
'', founded abroad by
V.I.Lenin. In 1903 he was a founding member of the
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 ...
faction of the
Russian Social Democratic Labor Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...
. During 1904, he was based in
Odesa
Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...
, Ukraine, but emigrated again in August 1904, to help launch the first exclusively Bolshevik publication, ''
Vperyod ''Vperyod'' (Russian: Вперёд; English translation: "Forward") was the first factional newspaper of the Bolsheviks after the split at the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. The first issue of the paper was publishe ...
'' (Forward), of which he was an editor.
During 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 ...
, Vorovsky returned to Russia, working actively as a revolutionary in
St. 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 ...
.
Following the defeat of the 1905 uprising he moved to Odesa, where he was a leading underground Bolshevik from 1907 to 1912.
In 1912, Vorovsky was arrested again, this time to be deported to
Vologda
Vologda ( rus, Вологда, p=ˈvoləɡdə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the river Vologda (river), Vologda within the watershed of the Northern Dvina. ...
province, in Russia.
In 1915, he moved to
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, where he worked as an engineer for the Swedish Lux company and for
Siemens-Schuckert
Siemens-Schuckert (or Siemens-Schuckertwerke) was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966.
Siemens Schuckert was founded in 1903 when Siemens & Ha ...
.
In 1917, after the
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
in Russia, Vorovsky was appointed to three-man Bolshevik Stockholm Bureau, along with
Karl Radek
Karl Berngardovich Radek (russian: Карл Бернгардович Радек; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a C ...
and
Yakov Hanecki.
Vorovsky was the first director of
Gosizdat
State Publishing House of the RSFSR (Russian: Госуда́рственное изда́тельство РСФСР), also known as Gosizdat (Госиздат), was the State Publishing House founded in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Repu ...
, the State Publishing House, from its foundation in 1919 until 1921.
Diplomatic career
Following the victory of the
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...
in November 1917, Vorovsky was named the Soviet government's diplomatic representative to
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
, remaining based in Stockholm.
In Stockholm, Vorovsky was the point of contact between the new Bolshevik government and representatives of the government of Germany, being introduced by
Alexander Parvus
Alexander Lvovich Parvus, born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand (8 September 1867 – 12 December 1924) and sometimes called Helphand in the literature on the Russian Revolution, was a Marxist theoretician, publicist, and controversial activist in the ...
to members of the
Social-Democratic Party of Germany
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 the ...
including
Philipp Scheidemann
Philipp Heinrich Scheidemann (26 July 1865 – 29 November 1939) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). In the first quarter of the 20th century he played a leading role in both his party and in the young Weimar ...
during November and December 1917.
In December 1918, Sweden, responding to pressure on the part of the Allied powers who were intent upon imposing an unbreakable blockade, withdrew official recognition of Vorovsky as the representative of Soviet Russia. This action on the part of the Swedish government forced Vorovsky's return to Russia the following month. This action taken against Vorovsky followed the actions taken by Great Britain in expelling
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 wa ...
in September 1918 and that of Germany in expelling
Adolph Joffe
Adolph Abramovich Joffe (russian: Адо́льф Абра́мович Ио́ффе, alternative transliterations Adol'f Ioffe or, rarely, Yoffe) (10 October 1883 in Simferopol – 16 November 1927 in Moscow) was a Russian revolutionary, a Bo ...
in November of that same year.
In March 1919, Vorovsky served as a member of the Soviet delegation to the
Founding Congress of the
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
.
He was named the representative of the Russian Communist Party to the
Executive Committee of the Comintern.
He also served as one of the secretaries of the organization, along with
Angelica Balabanova
, image = Brodskiy II Balabanova.jpg
, birth_name = Anzhelika Isaakovna Balabanova
, birth_date = August 4, 1878
, birth_place = Chernihiv, Ukraine
, death_date =
, death_place = Rome, Ital ...
.
[Carr, ''The Bolshevik Revolution,'' vol. 3, pg. 121.] Grigorii Zinoviev was tapped as president of the organization.
In July 1920, Vorovsky resumed work as a Soviet diplomat, participating in diplomatic negotiations with
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
.
From 1921 to 1923, Vorovsky was the
Soviet representative to Italy.
In that capacity he was involved in attempts at negotiation of a trade agreement between the two countries, with a preliminary pact signed in December 1921.
[Carole Fink, ''The Genoa Conference: European Diplomacy, 1921–1922.'' Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1984; pg. 282.] This success proved short-lived, however, as negotiations to extend the six-month treaty failed in May 1922.
Vorovsky was a member of the Soviet delegation to the 1922
Genoa Conference
The Genoa Economic and Financial Conference was a formal conclave of 34 nations held in Genoa, Italy, from 10 April to 19 May 1922 that was planned by British Prime Minister David Lloyd George to resolve the major economic and political issues faci ...
, a group headed by Soviet Foreign Minister
Georgii Chicherin.
Death and legacy
Vorovsky's final diplomatic mission came in the spring of 1923, when he served as Soviet representative to the
Lausanne conference of 1923.
Accompanied by two diplomatic attachés, Vorovsky arrived in Lausanne from Rome on April 27, hoping to force the conference's official participants to recognize Soviet interests in the Turkish
Black Sea Straits.
[Fischer, ''The Soviets in World Affairs,'' vol. 1, pg. 409.]
On May 9, Vorovsky dispatched his final report to Moscow, noting that three days earlier a group of right wing youths had appeared at his hotel and sought a meeting. Vorovsky wrote:
"I refused to receive them, and Comrade Ahrens, who went out to them to find out what it was all about, disposed of them at once, telling them that they should put such matters before their Government. Now they are going about the town declaring that they will compel us to leave Switzerland by force, and so on.
"As to whether the police are taking any measures for our safety, we have no idea. At any rate, it is not apparent on the surface. It is only too evident that behind these hooligan boys there is some conscious directing hand — possibly foreign. The Swiss Government, well aware of what is going on — for the papers are full of it — must bear responsibility for our safety. The behaviour of the Swiss Government is a shameful violation of the guarantees given at the beginning of the conference, and any attack on us in this particularly well-organised country is only possible with the knowledge and permission of the authorities. On them is the responsibility."
On the evening of 10 May 1923 Vorovsky was seated at a dining table in the restaurant of his hotel with his colleagues when the group was approached by an individual they did not know. The unknown figure, a Russian
White émigré
White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik commun ...
named
Maurice Conradi
Maurice Alexander Morisovich Conradi (Russian: Морис Морисович Конради; 16 June 1896, in Saint Petersburg − 7 February 1947, in Chur) was a White Army emigre participant of the First World War and the Russian Civil War and ...
, pulled a gun and shot Vorovsky to death, wounding his two companions, Ahrens and Divilkovsky, in the attack.
Conradi was defended by the advocate
Théodore Aubert
Théodore Aubert (8 September 1878, Geneva – 19 January 1963) was a Swiss lawyer and writer. Biography
As a lawyer, he defended the White émigré Maurice Conradi who assassinated the Soviet envoy to Switzerland Vatslav Vorovsky in 1923. ...
and later acquitted by the Swiss court in the epilogue of what would be known as the
Conradi affair. It was later alleged that the murder was actually ordered by
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 Secreta ...
.
[Vaksberg, ''Toxic Politics: The Secret History of the Kremlin's Poison Laboratory'' pp. 23,24.]
Vatslav Vorovsky was 51 years old at the time of his death. He is buried in Mass Grave No. 7 of the
Kremlin Wall Necropolis
The Kremlin Wall Necropolis was the national cemetery for the Soviet Union. Burials in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolshevik individuals who died during the Moscow Bolshevik Uprising were buried in m ...
in
Red Square
Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...
, Moscow.
Memory
A number of settlements and streets in dozens of cities in the USSR were named after Vorovsky under Soviet rule. Among the significant renaming: Kiev
Khreshchatyk
Khreshchatyk ( uk, Хрещатик, ) is the main street of Kyiv, Ukraine. The street has a length of . It stretches from the European Square (northeast) through the Maidan and to Bessarabska Square (southwest) where the Besarabsky Market is ...
, which was renamed into ''Vorovskogo Street'' between 1923 and 1937.
In Moscow on 11 May 1924, in the courtyard of a former apartment building of the First Russian Insurance Company, a bronze monument of Vorovsky was erected under the project of sculptor Mikhail Kats. In connection with the installation of the monument and the demolition of the Vvedenskaya church located at the corner of Kuznetsky Most and Bolshaya Lubyanka, the vacated place was named Vorovsky Square.
A poem by
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
, titled ''Vorovsky'', was dedicated to him in honor of his death.
The Palaces of Culture in the city of Konakovo, Tver region and in the city of Ramenskoye, Moscow region were named after Vatslav Vorovsky.
In 1990, the
Russian Coast Guard
The Coast Guard of the Border Service of the FSB (russian: Береговая охрана Пограничной службы ФСБ России, Beregovaya okhrana Pogranichnoy sluzhby FSB Rossii), previously known as the Maritime Units of the ...
launched a Menzhinskiy-class (project 11351 - NATO Krivak III Class) ship named for
Vorovskiy (Воровский 160).
See also
*
Alexander Griboyedov
Alexander Sergeyevich Griboyedov (russian: Александр Сергеевич Грибоедов, ''Aleksandr Sergeevich Griboedov'' or ''Sergeevich Griboyedov''; 15 January 179511 February 1829), formerly romanized as Alexander Sergueevich Gri ...
, Russian ambassador to Persia, assassinated in 1829
*
Pyotr Voykov
Pyotr Lazarevich Voykov (russian: Пётр Ла́заревич Во́йков; ua, Петро Лазарович Войков; party aliases: Пётрусь and Интеллигент, or ''Piotrus'' and '' Intelligent'') ( – June 7, 192 ...
, Soviet ambassador to Poland, assassinated in 1927
*
Andrei Karlov
Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov (russian: Андрей Геннадьевич Карлов; 4 February 1954 – 19 December 2016) was a Russian diplomat who served as the Russian ambassador to Turkey and earlier as the Russian ambassador to North ...
, Russian ambassador to Turkey, assassinated in 2016
References
Works
* ''Советъ против партии'' (The Council Against the Party). Geneva: Bonch-Bruevich and Lenin Publishing House of Social-Democratic Party Literature, November 1904.
—Reissued by Partizdat, 1933.
* ''Литературно-критические статьи'' (Literary-Critical Articles). Moscow: Gospolitizdat, 1948.
Further reading
* N.F. Piyashev, ''Воровский'' (Vorovsky). Moscow:
Molodaya Gvardiya, 1959.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vorovsky, V. V.
1871 births
1923 deaths
Russian people of Polish descent
People from the Russian Empire of Polish descent
Soviet people of Polish descent
Politicians from Moscow
Old Bolsheviks
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members
Russian communists
Russian revolutionaries
Russian expatriates in Switzerland
Soviet expatriates in Switzerland
People murdered in Switzerland
Russian people murdered abroad
Deaths by firearm in Switzerland
Soviet diplomats
Assassinated diplomats of the Soviet Union
Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Italy
Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Sweden
Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Denmark
Soviet literary critics
Russian Marxists
Soviet people murdered abroad
Male murder victims