A Moment of Truth about Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) is broadly known as a Bolshevik author, closely allied with the likes of Lenin and Stalin. However, this is nowhere near the truth.

Gorky’s actual name was Alexei Maximovich Peshkov. He even chose the pseudonym”Gorky” -“sour” in Russian to explain his early experiences from age eight as a menial worker. In his late teens he tried suicide. The bullet pierced his lung.

Between 1899 and 1906 Gorky resided in St. Petersburg and participated in the actions of the Social Democratic Party. If it split in 1903, he, really, supported the Bolsheviks financially – though he never combined them. He was a critic of Lenin. Partly to avoid his wrath, he exiled himself in 1906 into Capri, Italy.

Moreover, though he declared the Bolsheviks’ anti-war position, he compared the 1917 October Revolution (the Bolshevik coup against the post-Tsarist Social Democratic authorities ). So damaging was the illegitimacy of the Bolshevik regime and his criticism of the dictatorial ways of Lenin that his work was censored from July 1918 onwards.

Gorky left Russia in 1921 and lived in Sorrento, Italy when he was lured back with a celebration of his 60th birthday. The year later, he jumped forever to Russia. Back in 1938 senior Soviet figures – such as Genrikh Yagoda and Nikolai Bukharin – were accused of murdering him 1936, although under therapy.