Description
Zinoviev, Grigory (1883 – 1936)
Inscribed from one comrade to another…
Photograph signed (‘G. Zinowiew’) and inscribed to [Otto] Grimlund, 13th March 1919. A photographic reproduction of a painting, approximately 27,5 cm X 22 cm, inscribed in German: ‘To Comrade Grimlund, in memory of Petrograd’. Size including mount, 41cm X 30cm).
From one comrade to another: a large-format photograph presented by Grigory Zinoviev to the Swedish communist Otto Grimlund. Grigory Zinoviev was one of the seven members of the first Politburo, created by the Bolshevik Party in 1917, where he served the revolution alongside his lifelong friend Lenin; he headed the city and regional government in Petrograd from 1918 and led the Third International, but fell foul of Stalin, who removed him from the Soviet executive in 1926; he later became one of the earliest and most prominent victims of the Great Terror in 1936. The Swedish communist Otto Grimlund (1893-1969) lived in Moscow for many years; in 1917, he played a central role in organising Lenin’s return to Russia from exile in Switzerland, through Germany and Sweden.
Some age-toning, otherwise fine condition. Very rare in this format.