Leon Trotsky
Leon Trostky was a Russian revolutionary and political activist who was active during the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. After Lenin’s death, Trotsky became the number one rival of Joseph Stalin. He was deported from Russia in 1929 and found refuge in Turkey.
He spent four years in Büyükada which is the biggest of the Princess Islands in the sea of Marmara where he wrote against Stalinism. We know Trotsky wrote to Atatürk, the founding father of modern Turkey asking for permission to stay which he was granted. He spent his time with his wife and son mostly in isolation and under surveillance writing. He always lived in fear that he might be killed by Stalin. His house in Büyükada unfortunately burnt down one night completely destroying his archives.
Trostky on Büyükada
He left Turkey in 1933 for France and later for Mexico in search for a safer haven where he continued his struggles to fight against Stalinism which he called a degenerated workers state in his book ‘the Revolution Betrayed’. He was hosted by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Mexico.
The death he feared would find him in İstanbul found him in Mexico. He was assassinated in his home in 1940 by a Stalin agent.
His home in Büyükada is still in ruins but many locals of the İsland know that this was once the home to Trotsky and his family. 14th İstanbul Biennale used his home as one of its exhibition ‘spaces’ in the memory of Leon Trostky.
Leon Trotsky Home in Büyükada
Unlike his house in İstanbul, his house in Mexico has been beautifully preserved and turned into a museum in the name of this Soviet Revolutionary who was sadly on the losing side of history!
