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 Sound UbuWeb |
Leon Trotsky (1879-1940) Political speech, ca. 1938, 3'38" Voice – Leon Trotsky Recording – Probably in Mexico, ca. 1938 Leon Trotsky, real name Lev Davidovich Bronstein (b. Vanovka, Ukraine 1879 - d. Coyoacan, Mexico City 1940), was a Soviet politician and revolutionary theorist and leading figure in the October Revolution of 1917. In the years following the Revolution he organized the Red Army, supporting Lenin. After Lenin's death the group led by Stalin expelled Trotsky from the USSR . Thus Trotsky wound up in exile in Mexico, from where he led a dissident communist opposition to Stalin, founding the IV International and defending "permanent revolution" against "the revolution betrayed". He mixed with the artistic circle in Mexico led by Diego de Rivera and Frida Kahlo, and also the surrealist Andre Breton. This original recording of Trotsky speaking in English was probably made in Mexico when he gave a speech to the American Communists on the 10th anniversary of the Left Opposition. Stalin issued orders that Trotsky be assassinated and in 1940 the Spanish communist Ramon Mercader carried them out, getting close to Trotsky on the pretext of asking him to read an article he had written. RELATED RESOURCES: Russian Futurists from the GLM Collection (1920-1959) Sound Experiments in The Russian Avant-Garde (1908-1942) |