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Valerian Zorin

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Diplomat

The Resume

    (January 14, 1902-January 14, 1986)
    Born in Novocherkassk, Russia
    Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1947-55, 1956-65)
    Soviet ambassador to the United Nations (1952-53, 1960-63), West Germany (1955-56), and France (1965-71)
    Best remembered for a confrontation at the UN with American ambassador Adalai Stevenson during the Cuban Missile Crisis (October 25, 1962)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was one of the organizers of the coup that installed a Communist government in Czechoslovakia (1948).
    During the Cuban Missile Crisis, he continued denying that the Soviets were building missile bases in Cuba even after Stevenson produced reconnaissance photos of the bases under construction.
    During their confrontation, Stevenson said, ‘I want to say to you, Mr. Zorin, that I do not have your talent for obfuscation, for distortion, for confusing language, and for doubletalk. And I am glad that I do not.’
    He opined that John F. Kennedy had not been assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, but had been killed by Southern ‘scum’ because of his progressive views on civil rights.

Why he might not be annoying:

    In a major diplomatic success, he drew up the agreement normalizing post-WWII relations between Japan and the USSR (1956).
    Western diplomats suspected that Khrushchev had kept him in the dark about what the Soviets were doing in Cuba during the Missile Crisis.
    He was described by the New York Times as having a ‘surprising charm and affability.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying