Boris E. Skvirsky

Boris Evseevich Skvirsky was born in Odessa in 1887 and belonged to the Socialist Revolutionary movement before joining the Communist Party. His diplomatic career grew out of the revolutionary struggle in the Russian Far East. He became deputy foreign minister of the Far Eastern Republic in 1920 and traveled to the United States with its delegation in 1921. He remained in America as an unofficial Russian representative, serving as the Soviet foreign commissariat’s diplomatic agent during the decade before recognition. ^{1, 2}

In October 1933, Skvirsky provided a channel for President Franklin Roosevelt’s approach to Moscow. Henry Morgenthau and William Bullitt brought him an unsigned presidential letter to Mikhail Kalinin proposing negotiations. Maxim Litvinov subsequently came to Washington, where formal relations were established in November. Skvirsky briefly acted as chargé and then remained as embassy counselor. ^{3, 1}

On November 21, 1933, he notified the State Department that American shipping would receive the Soviet preferential tonnage rate of ten kopeks per net registered ton, on a reciprocal basis. The American proclamation granting reciprocal treatment followed in January 1934, effective from the date specified in his note. ⁴

Skvirsky served as Soviet representative in Afghanistan in 1936–37 before returning to an industrial appointment. He managed the Medinstrument trust when arrested on July 15, 1938. The military court sentenced him to death on charges of espionage and participation in a counterrevolutionary terrorist organization; he was executed on July 30, 1941. He was buried at Butovo-Kommunarka and posthumously rehabilitated in November 1955. ^{1, 2}