Adolph Joffe
1883 – 1927 Russian Bolshevik diplomat and Trotsky ally
The Bolshevik diplomat whose suicide was a protest against Stalin's rise.
- Religion
- Born to a Jewish family; a militant atheist.
- Affiliations
- Bolshevik Party; chief Soviet negotiator at Brest-Litovsk; a leading supporter of Trotsky.
Joffe led the Soviet delegation at the Brest-Litovsk peace talks and served as an envoy to Germany and China. A close friend and follower of Trotsky, he saw the opposition being crushed and his own career ended. Sick and despairing, he shot himself in 1927, and his funeral became a last public demonstration by Trotsky's supporters.
Connections
- rival of Joseph Stalin — His death was a protest against Stalin's victory over the opposition.
- ally of Leon Trotsky — A devoted friend whose suicide protested Trotsky's defeat.