Grigori Voitinsky

Who was Grigori Voitinsky?

Grigori Naumovich Voitinsky aka Zarkhin was a Comintern official during its creation, and was sent to China in 1920 as an advisor to contact the prominent Chinese radicals such as Chen Duxiu, just before the formation of the Communist Party of China. The actual process of forming the infant Party can be mostly attributed to his influence, although his successor advisors had more influence about the official Party line itself, such as allying with the Guomindang.

In 1920, the Soviet Union established the Far Eastern Bureau in Siberia, a branch of the Third Communist International, or the Comintern. It was responsible for managing the establishment of a Communist party in China and other countries. Soon after its establishment, the bureau's deputy manager Voitinsky arrived in Beijing and contacted the Communist vanguard Li Dazhao. Li arranged for Voitinsky to meet with another Communist leader, Chen Duxiu, in Shanghai. In August 1920, Voitinsky, Chen Duxiu, Li Hanjun, Shen Xuanlu, Yu Xiusong, Shi Cuntong, and others began to established the Comintern China Branch.