Fyodor Dan

Fyodor Ilyich Dan (Russian: Фёдор Ильи́ч Дан; 19 October [O.S. 7 October] 1871 – 22 January 1947),¹ original surname Gurvich (Гу́рвич), was a Russian political activist and journalist who helped found the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.

Background

Fyodor Dan was born to a Jewish family in St. Petersburg, where his father owned a pharmacy. From 1889 to 1895 he studied at the Imperial University of Dorpat.

In 1895 he graduated from the medical faculty of Yuryev University (now University of Tartu) and became a doctor. He participated in the social democratic movement from 1894²

Career

Dan was a lifelong socialist activist and journalist. He was a member of the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class and was one of the organizers of the textile workers' strike. In 1896 he was arrested and deported for 5 years to Vyatka Governorate.²

Menshevism

In the summer of 1901 he emigrated to Berlin, where he joined the Iskra assistance group. On his return, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1902 and went to London for their Second Congress in 1903. Dan aligned himself with Julius Martov who wanted to have a larger party of activists, rather than Vladimir Lenin's conception of a smaller party of professional revolutionaries.