Russian Communist leader (1879–1940) who, with Lenin, organized the Bolshevik seizure of power during the October Revolution of 1917. In 1929, five years after Lenin’s death, Stalin defeated Trotsky for control of the Communist party and banished him from Russia. Trotsky spent most of the remainder of his life in Mexico, where he was assassinated with a pickaxe by a Stalinist agent. ALS signed “L,” one page on a plain 3.5 x 6.25 postcard addressed in his hand, April 29, 1930. Trotsky writes from Turkey to his friend, Gerard Rosenthal, in Paris. In part (translated): “I received others [letters] American and Italian; in the latter there is a picture ‘Trotsky at Lenin's funeral’—even though according to the text—one sees that he was not there—he was not in Moscow…. From a political and personal standpoint he is a bastard…. The article on May 1st from R. is quite academic (polemic with the reformers) when it comes to calling the workers to the demonstration because May 1st is not a Stalin day or something like this. Don’t you think that I am right? We have received a lot of news from USSR. We have a wave of ‘partisans’ but at the same time there is a growth and one can say that things are not doing too bad, it is what was said in R’s article….” When Lenin died of a reported stroke on January 21, 1924, Trotsky was traveling in the Caucasus, far from Moscow. Stalin, who was then aggressively consolidating his own power and influence, telegraphed Trotsky to suggest that he remain where he was, as it would be impossible to return in time for the funeral. This carefully orchestrated “snub” of the revered Soviet leader resulted in the wave of anti-Trotsky invective alluded to in the letter. At the time of writing, Trotsky was living on the island of Büyükada near Istanbul, his first refuge in exile after his deportation from the Soviet Union in February 1929. Mild soiling and handling wear and corner bend touching a few words of text, otherwise fine condition. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
