Leonid Krasin

Leonid Borisovich Krasin
Born	1870 Kurgan, Russian Empire
Died	1926-11-24
Occupation(s)	Politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary, diplomat
Years active	1890s–1926
Known for	Soviet Union's first ambassador to France; Bolshevik financial expert; People's Commissar for Foreign Trade

Leonid Borisovich Krasin (; – 24 November 1926) was a prominent Russian Soviet figure known for his roles as a politician, engineer, social entrepreneur, Bolshevik revolutionary, and diplomat. In 1924, he was appointed as the Soviet Union’s inaugural ambassador to France. The following year, he assumed the position of ambassador to London, a post he held until his passing. Krasin was an early confidant and financial supporter of Vladimir Lenin and is acknowledged as the Communist Party’s pioneering expert in finance.

Early years

Born on in Kurgan, within the Russian Empire, Krasin was the son of Boris Ivanovich Krasin (1846–1901), who served as the local police chief. One of his younger siblings was Boris Borisovich Krasin (1884–1936), noted both as a composer and an activist in the Proletkult movement. Krasin’s education began at a technical school in Tyumen, where he encountered American explorer George Kennan during his studies.

In 1887, he enrolled at the Petersburg Technological Institute to pursue chemistry. His involvement in a student protest in 1890 resulted in a brief expulsion. After returning, he became part of a Marxist group initiated by Mikhail Brusnev, one of the earliest social democratic organizations engaging factory workers. Due to his activism, he faced expulsion and exile from Petersburg again in 1891 and relocated to Nizhny Novgorod to commence military service. In 1892, authorities arrested him because of his association with Brusnev; he then spent ten months imprisoned in Moscow. Upon release, he resumed his military duties in Tula. While visiting St Petersburg, Krasin addressed a Marxist circle led by Stepan Radchenko, where Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) notably challenged him.

In 1893, Krasin encountered Leo Tolstoy, though they disagreed over revolutionary ideologies. Subsequently, he developed a friendship with writer Maxim Gorky, who described him as slender and sharp-eyed, possessing an uncommon vigor among Russians.

Following another arrest in January 1895, Krasin endured three months behind bars before being deported to Irkutsk. There, he worked as a draughtsman on the Trans-Siberian Railway. He completed his studies at the Kharkov Technological Institute in 1901.

Career

Upon completing his exile in 1900, Krasin relocated to Baku, where he served as an engineer at a major electric power facility and played a significant role in electrifying the Baku oilfields. He joined the clandestine Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and aligned with Lenin’s Bolsheviks during its 1903 Second Congress, earning election to their Central Committee. As a committed Leninist and ‘conciliator,’ Krasin sought to bridge divisions between Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. He maintained a dual existence as both factory manager and covert supporter of revolutionary efforts.

Krasin secured financial backing from affluent liberals to establish the RSDLP’s inaugural secret printing press in Baku—the Nina Printing House—which produced Lenin’s newspaper Iskra. The press was accessed through a trap-door engineered by Krasin himself. Soviet historiography later mistakenly credited Joseph Stalin with founding this press; Stalin also resided in Baku during that period.

After contracting malaria, Krasin departed Baku in 1904 to become chief engineer at industrialist Savva Morozov’s textile factory near Moscow. Morozov provided him with a monthly stipend of 2000 rubles to support Bolshevik activities. In April 1905, Krasin presided over the Bolshevik-exclusive Third Congress of the RSDLP held in London and was re-elected to its Central Committee. His revolutionary involvement remained concealed even from his wife, Liubov.

Martyn Liadov attributed the orchestration of Bolshevik bank expropriations to Krasin, including participation in the violent 1907 Tiflis bank robbery and involvement with the bomb targeting Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin in 1906. Historian Yuri Felshtinsky posited that Krasin may have been responsible for assassinating Savva Morozov in 1905.

In 1907, Krasin opposed Lenin’s stance on participating in elections for the Third Duma and advocated alongside Alexander Bogdanov for an electoral boycott. This disagreement triggered a split within the Bolshevik faction, leading Krasin to join the Vpered group. Nevertheless, Lenin maintained respect for him and encouraged his return.

Briefly detained in Finland in 1908, Krasin subsequently emigrated to Berlin and shifted focus away from revolutionary activities toward engineering work at Siemens. By 1912 he was managing Siemens’ Moscow branch and had become managing director of its Russian subsidiary based in Saint Petersburg by 1914. Having accumulated wealth by this time, he declined requests for funds from Lenin.

During 1917, Krasin supported the Provisional Government, cautioning that a Bolshevik uprising would result in chaos. However, early in 1918 he rejoined the Bolsheviks but was disturbed by the onset of the Red Terror, intervening personally to secure freedom for several engineers.

Between 1920 and 1924, Krasin held the position of People's Commissar for Foreign Trade within the Russian Bolshevik government, significantly influencing Soviet foreign trade policy throughout this critical phase.

Diplomatic career

In April 1920, Krasin encountered E. F. Wise in Copenhagen during negotiations that led to the signing of the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement in March 1921. By 1924, he had secured a position on the Communist Party's Central Committee, a role he maintained until his passing in 1926.

Krasin founded the second Soviet international bank in Paris in 1921, known as the Commercial Bank for Northern Europe () or BCEN-Eurobank. This institution was part of a broader network comprising five Soviet foreign banks, including Moscow Narodny Bank in London (1919), Donau Bank AG in Vienna (1974), Ost-West Handelsbank in Frankfurt (1971), and East-West United Bank in Luxembourg (1974). These banks functioned as branches of the central Gosbank, facilitating support for Communist Parties, anti-imperialist efforts, and national liberation movements across the globe.

Following the establishment of BCEN-Eurobank, Krasin took charge of the Centrosoyuz mission, which was created on 24 February 1920 to circumvent Western trade embargoes and political restrictions aimed at Bolshevik Russia. Beginning May 31, 1920, he engaged with British officials in London and founded "Soviet House" or "Russia House" at 49 Moorgate—better known as the All-Russian Cooperative Limited Liability Company "ARCOS" (). ARCOS played a key role in maintaining Bolshevik influence over Moscow Narodny Bank Limited, which had been established in October 1919 through Centrosoyuz.

Krasin held several significant posts: People's Commissar for Foreign Trade from 1920 to 1923; Bolshevik Russia's inaugural plenipotentiary and trade envoy to Great Britain between 1920 and 1925; and representative to France from 1924 to 1925. In 1924, he was appointed as the first Soviet Ambassador to France before returning to London as Soviet Plenipotentiary, where he eventually passed away. His successor in London was Christian Rakovsky.

Lenin's mausoleum

Inspired by the ideas of Nikolai Federov, Krasin embraced the concept of achieving immortality through scientific means. At Lev Karpov's funeral in 1921, he voiced his belief that future advances could bring back deceased individuals, including prominent historical personalities such as Karpov himself.

Following Lenin’s death in January 1924, Krasin authored an article titled "The Immortalization of Lenin," advocating for a monument that would enshrine Lenin’s body and serve as a pilgrimage destination akin to Jerusalem or Mecca. Together with Anatoly Lunacharsky, he initiated a design competition for this monument. Krasin also made unsuccessful efforts to preserve Lenin’s remains using cryogenic methods.

Personal life

Though originating from Siberia, Krasin was considered one of the most sophisticated and westernized figures among Bolsheviks. Menshevik Simon Liberman highlighted Krasin’s cultured sensibilities and international outlook, noting his extensive foreign experience and connections.

Krasin and his spouse were parents to three daughters:

• Liubov Krasin married Gaston Bergery, a French politician who founded the Frontist Party, though they divorced in 1928. After World War II, she wed Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie, another French political figure; both maintained acquaintance with Svetlana Alliluyeva.
• Ludmilla Krasin was reportedly engaged to the Duc de La Rochefoucauld in 1927 before later marrying John Mathiessen Mathias (1906–1963), son of Robert Moritz Mathias.

While engaged in negotiations for UK and French recognition of the Bolshevik regime, Krasin succumbed to a blood illness despite medical interventions suggested by his friend, physician Alexander Bogdanov. His funeral attracted some 6,000 attendees; he was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium and interred at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow.

Honors and legacy

Throughout the period of the Great Purge and continuing until Stalin's passing in 1953, Krasin was notably excluded from official Communist Party and Soviet state historical accounts.

Two icebreaker vessels, launched in 1917 and 1976, were christened to commemorate his name.

Texts

• "Our Trade Policy", published in Labour Monthly, Vol II, No.1, January 1922
• Collection of Leonid Borisovič Krasin Papers held at the International Institute of Social History

External links

• Leonid Borisovič Krasin Papers