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Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (November 29 (O.S.) = December 11 (N.S.), 1856 – May 17 (O.S.) = May 30 (N.S.), 1918) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist theoretician. He was a founder of the Social-Democratic movement in Russia. Plekhanov contributed many ideas to Marxism in the area of philosophy and the roles of art and religion in society.
Plekhanov was originally a Narodnik, a leader of the organization "Land and Freedom." After emigrating from Russia in 1880, he established connections with the Social-Democratic movement of western Europe and began to study the works of Marx and Engels. This led him to renounce Narodism and become a Marxist.
In 1883, he founded, in Switzerland, the "Emancipation of Labor" group, which popularized Marxism among Russian revolutionaries. At its dissolution, he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and worked with Lenin.
In 1903, at the second congress of the RSDLP, Plekhanov broke with Lenin and sided with the Mensheviks. During World War I, he took a nationalist position, calling for the defeat of Germany. He was hostile toward the Bolshevik Revolution.
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