Zinovy Peshkov

Zinovy Alekseyevich Peshkov (Russian: Зиновий Алексеевич Пешков, French: Zinovi Pechkoff or Pechkov, 16 October 1884 – 27 November 1966) was a Russian-born French general and diplomat.

He was born Yeshua Zalman Sverdlov (Russified name: Zinovy Mikhailovich Sverdlov, Зиновий Михайлович Свердлов) to a Jewish engraver in Nizhny Novgorod. His younger brother Yakov Sverdlov was a Bolshevik party leader. In 1896, Maxim Gorky met the Sverdlov family at an exhibition and soon became a close friend. During Gorky's exile to Arzamas in 1902, Zinovy worked as his secretary. To evade Russian restrictions on Jewish residence, Zinovy Sverdlov was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church and officially changed his name. Gorky (real name Alexey Peshkov) became his godfather and adoptive father.

Zinovy Peshkov was disowned by his family, and in 1904 he emigrated to Canada. After two years, he joined Gorky in Capri.

After the outbreak of World War I in 1914, he volunteered for the French Army. In May 1915, he was wounded and his right arm was amputated. He became a naturalized French citizen. In 1916, as a successful officer, he was sent to the United States to agitate for that country's entry into the war. After being decorated with the Légion d'honneur in 1917, Peshkov worked in French diplomatic missions in Russia, Romania, China, Japan, and Georgia.

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