Maxim Maximovich Litvinov was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat who served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs from 1930 to 1939.
Litvinov in 1932
Maxim Litvinov in 1896
Litvinov in 1902
Poland's Foreign Minister Józef Beck and Maxim Litvinov in February 1934
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union)
The Ministry of External Relations (MER) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was founded on 6 July 1923. It had three names during its existence: People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (1923–1946), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1946–1991) and Ministry of External Relations (1991). It was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. The Ministry was led by the Minister of Foreign Affairs prior to 1991, and a Minister of External Relations in 1991. Every leader of the Ministry was nominated by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers and confirmed by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and was a member of the Council of Ministers.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs main building, completed in 1953
Andrei Gromyko was the longest-serving Minister of Foreign Affairs in the USSR
Image: Bundesarchiv Bild 102 12859A, Georgi Wassiljewitsch Tschitscherin
Image: Litvinoff Profile
