Early Life and First Exile
Born Meir Henoch Mojszewicz Wallach-Finkelstein (simplified into Max Wallach, Russian: Макс Ва́ллах) into a wealthy Jewish banking family in Białystok, Grodno Governorate in Podlasie Region of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, at that time part of the Russian Empire (Northwestern Krai), he was the second son of Moses and Anna Wallach. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) in 1898 at which time the party was considered an illegal organization, and it was customary for its members to use pseudonyms. He changed his name to Maxim Litvinov, but was also known as Papasha and Maximovich. Litvinov also wrote articles under the names M.G. Harrison and David Mordecai Finkelstein His early responsibilities included carrying propaganda work in Chernigov Governorate. In 1900 Litvinov became a member of Kiev party committee, but the entire committee was arrested in 1901. After 18 months of captivity, he led an escape of 11 inmates from Lukyanovskaya prison and lived in exile in Switzerland, where he was an editor for the revolutionary newspaper Iskra. In 1903, he joined the Bolshevik faction and returned to Russia. After the 1905 Revolution he became editor of the SDLP's first legal newspaper, Novaya Zhizn (New Life) in St. Petersburg.
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