Georgi Vasilyevich Chicherin Chicherin, Georgi Vasilyevich
(gēôrˈgē vəsēˈlyəvĭch chēchâˈrĭn) [key], 1872–1936, Russian
diplomat. Of noble origin, he entered the Russian foreign office
but resigned (1904) after joining the Social Democratic party.
He was in London during the October Revolution of 1917, was
arrested for "enemy associations" after the Russian armistice
with Germany, and was finally released by the British
authorities. He returned to Russia in Jan., 1918, as Trotsky's
aide and soon succeeded him as foreign commissar. An able
diplomat, Chicherin successfully ended the diplomatic isolation
of the USSR by gaining formal recognition for his country from W
European nations. He negotiated the Treaty of Rapallo (see
Rapallo, Treaty of, and Genoa, Conference of) with Germany in
1922. He ceased to conduct foreign affairs in 1928 because of
illness and was succeeded by his assistant, Maxim Litvinov, in
1930. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright ©
2012, Columbia University Press. All righ