The Soviet diplomat who represented Moscow in all three major Western Allied capitals during the early Cold War
On 27 January 1958 in Washington, Zarubin put his signature alongside William Lacy's on a document that, for the first time in US–Soviet relations, institutionalized the exchange of films, music, science, and sports between the two powers.
A Soviet diplomat who served successively as ambassador to Canada (1944–1946), the United Kingdom (1946–1952), and the United States (1952–1958), acting as Moscow's key transatlantic interlocutor throughout the early Cold War. On 27 January 1958, he and William S.B. Lacy signed the landmark Lacy–Zarubin Agreement, the first intergovernmental US–Soviet cultural exchange framework, which was renewed biennially until the Soviet collapse and produced iconic Cold War cultural moments including tours by the Bolshoi Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He served as a candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1952 to 1958 and was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in January 1958, dying in Moscow ten months later.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1918–1924Served in the Red Army
- 1919Joined the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
- 1931–1935Director of the Industrial Academy
- 1935–1938Head, Main Administration of Educational Institutions, People's Commissariat of Light Industry
- 1938–1940Deputy General Commissioner and Arts Council Chair, Soviet section, New York World's Fair
- 1940–1941Head, Consular Department, People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs
- 1941–1944Head, Latin American Department, People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs
- 1944–1946Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada
- 1946–1952Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom
- 1952–1958Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States
- 1952–1958Candidate member, CPSU Central Committee
- 1958Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR
Related historical events
Negotiating and implementing the U.S.–Soviet exchange agreement
U.S.–Soviet exchange talks began in Washington on 28 October 1957, with William S. B. Lacy heading the U.S. side and Zarubin the Soviet delegation. The immediate occasion was a U.S. government proposal, made in June 1957, to exchange uncensored radio and television broadcasts; the Soviet government agreed to discuss it alongside other exchange questions. The two sides negotiated for about three months over technical, scientific, and cultural exchanges. A contemporaneous U.S. assessment judged that neither side had fully achieved its principal objectives: the United States sought to lower barriers to information, while Soviet proposals emphasized exchanges of delegations and individuals, especially in industry. The agreement was signed on 27 January 1958.
The agreement covered exchanges in science and technology, education, culture and athletics, and information. In July 1958, Lacy reported on its first six months in force, noting that twice as many U.S. delegations and groups had gone to the Soviet Union as Soviet delegations had come to the United States. His report recorded, among other activities, a 19-member U.S. steel experts' visit to survey Soviet industry, 40 U.S. undergraduates touring the USSR and 20 Soviet youths visiting the United States, the Moiseyev Dance Company performing in the United States, and the Philadelphia Orchestra performing in the Soviet Union. These figures document the scale of early exchanges, though reciprocity was not uniform across participants and fields. Zarubin had already been promoted to Deputy Foreign Minister when the agreement was signed, and died in November 1958 before seeing its implementation.