Maxim Litvinov

Maxim Litvinov
Максим Литвинов
Litvinov in 1932
Russian Ambassador to the United States
In office
10 November 1941 – 22 August 1943
PremierJoseph Stalin
Preceded byKonstantin Umansky
Succeeded byAndrei Gromyko
In office
1918–1919
PremierVladimir Lenin
Preceded byBoris Bakhmeteff
Succeeded byLudwig Martens
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union
In office
21 July 1930 – 3 May 1939
PremierAlexei Rykov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Preceded byGeorgy Chicherin
Succeeded byVyacheslav Molotov
Personal details
Born
Meir Henoch Mojszewicz Wallach-Finkelstein

(1876-07-17)17 July 1876
Białystok, Russian Empire
Died31 December 1951(1951-12-31) (aged 75)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
NationalityRussian, Soviet
Political partyRSDLP (1898–1903)
RSDLP (Bolsheviks) (1903–1918)
Russian Communist Party (1918–1951)
SpouseIvy Litvinov
ProfessionDiplomat, civil servant

Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (Russian pronunciation: [mɐkˈsʲim mɐkˈsʲiməvʲɪtɕ lʲɪˈtvʲinəf]; born Meir Henoch Wallach-Finkelstein; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat who served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs from 1930 to 1939.

Litvinov was an advocate for diplomatic agreements leading to disarmament, and was influential in making the Soviet Union a party to the 1928 Kellogg–Briand Pact. He was also responsible for the 1929 Litvinov Protocol, a multilateral agreement to implement the Kellogg-Briand Pact between the Soviet Union and several neighboring states.

In 1930, Litvinov was appointed People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, the highest diplomatic position in the USSR. During the 1930s, Litvinov advocated the official Soviet policy of collective security with Western powers against Nazi Germany.[1]

  1. ^ "Maksim Litvinov". Encyclopaedia Britannica. 13 July 2023.