MAXIME LITVINOV (1876-1951) ROBERT COULONDRE (1885-1959) Portrait of Maxim Litvinov, Soviet Foreign Minister (1930-1939) 11 November 1936.

The French ambassador in Moscow, Monsieur Robert Coulondre, talks with Maxime Litvinov. On verso, autograph caption and partially erased stamp. From left to right, M. Litvinov, M. Payart, Conseiller d'Ambassade, M. Robert Coulondre. Small tear at left bottom margin, corners corroded. 23.2 x 16.4 cm Maxim Maximovitch Litvinov - Revolutionary and diplomat of the Soviet Union, a fervent supporter of the Briand-Kellog pact and then of a rapprochement with the Western democracies in the face of Nazi Germany. Robert Coulondre - French diplomat. French ambassador to the Soviet Union from October 1936 to October 1938 and, as a result, one of the few Western witnesses to the great Stalinist trials of 1937-1938. In October 1938, he was appointed French ambassador to Germany. He remained there until September 1939, and it was he who delivered the 'declaration of war' to Joachim von Ribbentrop.