INSTRUCTION TO V. A. SMOLYANINOV 1
To Smolyaninov: Secure from Krasin and Chicherin a great deal of uproar, numerous protests, and the like.
Examine their measures closely. 2
30/8 [1921] Lenin
1 In July 1921, two employees of the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Trade were unlawfully arrested by British officials in Constantinople. Upon learning of this incident through a letter from M. F. Kuznetsov, a member of the Russo-Ukrainian Trade Delegation to the Near East, V. I. Lenin issued the following instruction to V. A. Smolyaninov.
V. A. Smolyaninov had been a member of the RSDLP since 1908. From April 1921, he served as Assistant to the Head of Administration of the SNK and the STO for matters related to economic and administrative development; he later became the Head of Administration of the Sovnarkom of the RSFSR.
2 On the envelope accompanying the covering note from N. K. Klyshko, Secretary of the Soviet Trade Delegation in London, there are underlinings and a marginal note by V. P. Lenin: “For Smolyaninov’s information (part to be carried out),” while on the cover of this file appears the notation: “Arégié.” On September 3, 1921, V. A. Smolyaninov conveyed Lenin’s instruction to G. V. Chicherin and L. B. Krasin.