The Bolshevik Myth · Character

Chicherin

The sleepless People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, wrapped in a shawl, personally carrying every dispatch to the radio room at three in the morning.

supporting

Also known as VI Chicherin

First appearance: VI: Chicherin and Karakhan

As a supporting figure in The Bolshevik Myth, Chicherin is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, works late into the night, optimistic about revolution in England and America, personally handles documents, dismisses narrator's pessimism.

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He turns night into day in a cold office, shawl slipping onto his papers, snapping at a clerk over a confused draft and then snatching it away to retype himself. He asks the narrator how soon revolution might come to America, and calls him pessimistic for doubting it. His feverish, threadbare devotion to recognition and lifting the blockade embodies the besieged state's strange blend of exhaustion and zeal.

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See Chicherin in VI: Chicherin and Karakhan

Character Web

13 connections

A slice of how Chicherin sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Professional
Other

Character groups

Extensive Revolutionary Cast
Protagonist
Anarchists and Bolsheviks
Cheka and Bolshevik Comrades
American Journalists and Bolshevik Leader

+8 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This excerpt marks the dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of disillusion…

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Relationships

Unknown Narrator
professional · ambivalent
Chicherin interacts frequently with the narrator as a Soviet diplomat, engaging in formal… How this plays out →
Unknown Narrator
professional · ambivalent
Chicherin interacts frequently with the narrator as a Soviet diplomat, engaging in formal… How this plays out →
Unknown Narrator
professional · ambivalent
Chicherin interacts frequently with the narrator as a Soviet diplomat, engaging in formal… How this plays out →

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Chicherin in VI: Chicherin and Karakhan

In the story

Chicherin appears across 6 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

VI: Chicherin and Karakhan
People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, works late into the night, optimistic about revolution in England and America, personally handles documents, dismisses narrator's pessimism.
I
Sent a message to Berkman informing him of the arrival of American deportees.
II
Chicherin is referenced as the recipient of urgent telegrams and the source of instructions regarding the disposition of war prisoners and American deportees.
IV
Chicherin orders the narrator to wait at the border for American emigrants, but the narrator decides to ignore his directives.
XVII: The First of May
Chicherin is mentioned as having finally admitted an American correspondent into Russia.
XXIX: Kiev
Mentioned for protesting alleged Polish vandalism of Kiev's cathedrals, which the narrator finds baseless.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Chicherin unlock in the free preview.

See Chicherin in VI: Chicherin and Karakhan