Fyodor Dan

Fyodor Ilyich Dan (surname at birth: Gurvich) (19 October [O.S. 7 October] 1871 – 22 January 1947) was a Russian political activist and journalist who helped found the Menshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Background Fyodor Dan was born to a Jewish family in St. Petersburg to a father who was the owner of a local pharmacy In 1895 he graduated from the medical faculty of Yuryevsky University (now University of Tartu) and became a doctor. He participated in the social democratic movement from 1894 Career Dan was a lifelong socialist activist and journalist. He was a member of the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class and was one of the organizers of the textile workers' strike. In 1896 he was arrested and deported for 5 years to the Vyatka province.