Leon Talmi Journalist and translator, defendant in the EAC case Date of Birth: 23.01.1893

1. Early Life and Education
2. Political Affiliations
3. Journalism and Translation Career
4. World War II and the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee
5. Arrest and Execution
6. Posthumous Rehabilitation
7. Family

Early Life and Education

Born into a Jewish family of the middle class, Leonid Tsamian received his early education in a cheder. He later attended a gymnasium and completed his secondary education at a college in Sioux City, Iowa. Upon his father's death in 1912, his family emigrated to the United States.

Political Affiliations

From 1914 to 1917, Tsamian was a member of the Socialist Party of the United States, serving on its Central Committee. He subsequently joined the Communist Party of the United States. After arriving in the Soviet Union, he was unable to join the Russian Communist Party (RCP(b)) due to a lack of pre-revolutionary party membership credentials.

Journalism and Translation Career

Tsamian arrived in Petrograd during the February Revolution and became involved with the United Socialist Jewish Workers' Party. He worked as a journalist in Kiev, contributing translations, articles, and essays to the party's newspaper.

In 1920, he relocated to Moscow and became a translator for the People's Commissariat for Nationality Affairs. Subsequently, he worked with the Comintern's press department and as a correspondent for the Russian newspaper "Iskra" and the American magazine "Nation."

Tsamian accompanied Vladimir Mayakovsky on a trip to the United States in 1925, reporting on Mayakovsky's work and translating his poems into English and Yiddish. Upon his return to the USSR, he was appointed editor of the English section of the State Publishing House for Literature in Foreign Languages, overseeing the publication of multi-volume collections of Marxist-Leninist classics. He also translated transcripts of the Moscow Trials into English.

World War II and the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee

With the outbreak of World War II, Tsamian joined the People's Volunteer Corps but was redirected as a translator to the Soviet Information Bureau (Sovinformburo). In 1942, he became a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) and served as a freelance translator for the "New Times" magazine.

Arrest and Execution

Tsamian was arrested on July 2, 1949, accused of using the JAC and the newspaper "Eynkeit" to promote Jewish nationalism and transmit espionage information abroad. Under coercion and torture, he was forced to incriminate himself. In 1952, he was sentenced to death for treason and executed on August 12.

Posthumous Rehabilitation

In 1955, Tsamian was posthumously rehabilitated and his conviction overturned. His remains were buried in the Don Cemetery in Moscow.

Family

Leonid Tsamian's wife, Sofya Tsamian-Rosenberg, was arrested and exiled in 1953. His son, Vladimir Tsamian, was a military translator who was arrested and imprisoned in 1947. They both emigrated to the United States in 1979.