Majskii [Maysky], Ivan (1884-1975)

Ivan Maysky

Ivan Maysky

Real name Lyakhovitsky. Soviet diplomat whose career began in 1922. Maysky graduated from the University of Munich in 1912 and was fluent in several languages. From 1929 to 1932, he was the Soviet ambassador, or polpred, in Finland; from 1932 to1943, he was the Soviet ambassador to Great Britain.

From 1943 to 1946, Majskii was Deputy Narcom of Foreign Affairs and simultaneously Chairman of the International Commission on Reparations (from Germany). He took part in both the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Majskii was arrested in February 1953 on the bizarre charge of being a “British spy” but was rehabilitated in 1956. He wrote The Memoir of a Soviet Diplomat, 1925-1945 (Moscow, 1971), as well as a number of works on foreign policy and a history of Spain.