Description:

Leon Trotsky PSA Mint 9 ALS in French Dating From His Days as WWI Correspondent for Ukrainian Newspaper

A calling card in French belonging to Ukrainian-Jewish socialist ideologue Leon Trotsky (1879-1940), inscribed with a 40+-word message and signed by him as "L. Trotsky" verso. Paris, France. March 31, 1916. The calling card is pre-printed in French and translated as: "Leon Trotzky / Special Envoy of the Newspaper 'Kiewskaja Mysl' / Petrograd / Kiew." Trotsky has inscribed the front of the card with two words, "Vireville / Grenoble," presumably his recipient's last name and location. Encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified and graded Mint 9. Expected wear including light even toning and a partial pencil erasure to the upper right corner recto, else near fine. The card measures 3.75" x 2.125" while the slab measures 5.125" x 3.125."

Trotsky wrote this note to an unidentified individual in Grenoble, in southeastern France about 110km southeast of Lyon. He referred to him in the salutation as "colleague," possibly indicating that his recipient was either a journalist like himself, or a fellow socialist. The identity of "Th. Giordgievitch" proves equally elusive; Trotsky was possibly Gallicizing his Russian visitor's name. ("Georgeievich" could be a good candidate for the visitor's real name, but neither could he be identified.) The item definitely deserves more research!

Translated in full:

"31 / iii 1916 Paris

Dear Sir and colleague!

Mr. Th. Giordgievitch came to ask me some advice. I hope that he will find in your essay men more competent [than I] in the question that interests him.

My distinguished sentiments

L. Trotsky."

Trotsky was within 50 miles of the Western Front in March 1916. The twice-exiled political dissident had acted much like a stateless person during the first decade of the twentieth century, focusing on journalism to make a living. After 1908, Trotsky contributed articles on current events to two major Ukrainian newspapers, "Odesskie novosti" ["Odessa News"] and "Kievskaya Mysl" ["Kiev Thought"]. Trotsky had served as a war correspondent for "Kievskaya Mysl" in the Balkans in 1912, where he reported on developments between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League (Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Greece). He became the World War I correspondent of "Kievskaya Mysl" in late 1914. Trotsky explained that, "I accepted "Kievskaya Mysl'"s offer the more willingly because it gave me the possibility to become better acquainted with France's political life in that critical epoch," in his 1922 memoir "War and the Revolution." Trotsky would remain in France until September 1916, when his political activities prompted authorities to deport him to Spain.

Trotsky's journalism during this time concerned the ongoing war, international politics, and political philosophy. For example, his article "Rakovsky and Kolarov" was published in "Kievskaya Mysl" on October 23, 1915. In the essay, Trotsky discusses Christian Rakovsky and Vasil Kolarov in the context of the Zimmerwald Conference, and the varied reaction of international socialists to the war. Another article, "An Epoch Passes (Bebel, Jaurès and Vaillant)" published in "Kievskaya Mysl" on January 1, 1916, lamented the passing of an older generation of socialist thinkers. Ukrainian newspapers like "Kievskaya Mysl" were well-connected to Western Europe, and could also be smuggled into Tsarist Russia.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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