Adolph Joffe - Revolutionary Career

Revolutionary Career

Joffe was born in Simferopol, Crimea, Russian Empire (currently part of Ukraine) in a wealthy Karaite family and became a social democrat in 1900 while still in high school. He formally joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1903. In 1904 Joffe was sent to Baku, which he had to flee to avoid arrest. He was then sent to Moscow, but had to flee again, this time abroad. After the events of Bloody Sunday on January 9, 1905, Joffe returned to Russia and took an active part in the Russian Revolution of 1905. In early 1906 he was forced to emigrate and lived in Berlin until his expulsion from Germany in May 1906.

In Russia, Joffe was close to the Menshevik faction within the Russian Social Democratic Party. However, after moving to Vienna in May 1906, he became close to Leon Trotsky's position and helped Trotsky edit Pravda from 1908 to 1912 while studying medicine and psychoanalysis. He also used his family's fortune to support Pravda financially.

In 1912 Joffe was arrested while visiting Odessa, imprisoned for 10 months and then exiled to Siberia.