Maxim Litvinov

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Maxim Litvinov
Максим Литвинов
Litvinov in 1932
Russian Ambassador to the United States
In office 10 November 1941 – 22 August 1943
Premier	Joseph Stalin
Preceded by	Konstantin Umansky
Succeeded by	Andrei Gromyko
In office 1918–1919
Premier	Vladimir Lenin
Preceded by	Boris Bakhmeteff
Succeeded by	Ludwig Martens
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union
In office 21 July 1930 – 3 May 1939
Premier	Alexei Rykov Vyacheslav Molotov
Preceded by	Georgy Chicherin
Succeeded by	Vyacheslav Molotov
Personal details
Born	Meir Henoch Mojszewicz Wallach-Finkelstein (1876-07-17)17 July 1876 Białystok, Russian Empire
Died	31 December 1951(1951-12-31) (aged 75) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Russian, Soviet
Political party	RSDLP (1898–1903) RSDLP (Bolsheviks) (1903–1918) Russian Communist Party (1918–1951)
Spouse	Ivy Litvinov
Profession	Diplomat, 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]