Maurice Conradi

Maurice Conradi

Maurice Conradi Russian: Морис Морисович Конради (16 June 1896, in Sankt Petersburg − 7 February 1947, in Switzerland), a Russian White movement officer, fought in World War I and Civil War in Russia, in 1923 killed Vatslav Vorovsky, member of Bolshevik delegation to Lausanne conference.[1][2]

Conradi was born in Sankt Petersburg in a family of Swiss businessmen, owners of a chocolate factory established in 1853 by Conradi's grandfather. During Bolshevik Revolution most of his family was killed: his father was executed in Sankt Petersburg on 26 November 1919, brother Victor taken hostage and executed in 1918, two further siblings disappeared during Red Terror. After unsuccessful campaign of the Wrangel Army he moved to Switzerland, radicalized against the Bolshevik government and planning a revenge.

Murder of Vorovsky

In April 1923 Conradi attempted an assassination of Bolshevik foreign affairs commisar Georgy Chicherin while he visited Germany, but unable to find him he returned to Geneva. Finding out about the upcoming conference, he planned another assassination. Vatslav Vorovsky, Ivan Ariens and Maxim Divilkovsky were delegates of the Bolshevik government to the 1923 Conference of Lausanne. On 10 May 1923 Conradi and his companion Arkady Polunin (Аркадий Павлович Полунин) entered the cafe "Cecile", shooting the Bolshevik delegation. Vorovsky was killed at the scene, Ariens and Divilkovsky wounded, but survived.

The murder was presented by Soviet press as conspiracy of "fascist White radicals", in spite of the fact that Vorovsky represented Bolsheviks in Italy and after his death Benito Mussolini was one of those sending condolences. The trial of Conradi and Polunin was held in Geneva and quickly turned into a trial of the whole Bolshevik movement, with Conradi widely supported by many White émigrés and Russian activists on exile, including Ivan Bunin, Ivan Shmelyov and Dmitry Merezhkovsky.[2]

Statements of witnesses, who volunteered to defend Conradi, described the atrocities of the Bolshevik Revolution and Red Terror and attracted attention of worldwide media.[3] The prosecution was represented by not very convincing arguments of Italian communists and Bolshevik officials, who argued how happy life in Soviet Russia became after the Revolution. Defended by Théodore Aubert, Conradi pleaded not guilty and was finally acquitted.

Further life

Conradi served in French Foreign Legion and an information about his death circulated in newspapers in 1931. He however returned safely and lived in Switzerland until he died on 7 February 1947.

Remaining Conradi's victims — Ariens and Divilkovsky — returned to the Soviet Union and held various positions in the administration. Ariens was executed in 1937 during Great Purge, Divilkovsky died as a soldier in 1942.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maurice Conradi.

References

  1. ↑ Bernard Degen. "Conradi-Affäre". Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  2. 1 2 Ivan Grezin (2012). "Убийство Воровского и процесс Конради: жертвы, палачи и герои". Nasha Gazeta. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
  3. ↑ "Conradi Trial: The Amazing Evidence". The Brisbane Courier. 10 November 1923. Retrieved 2015-08-31.
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