Alexander Parvus

Alexander Israel Helphand (born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand, Russian: Израиль Лазаревич Гельфанд; 27 August 1867-12 December 1924), better known as Alexander Parvus, was a Russian-born Marxist theorist, journalist, and activist who became a prominent figure in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

Alexander Israel Helphand (born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand, Russian: Израиль Лазаревич Гельфанд; 27 August 1867-12 December 1924), better known as Alexander Parvus, was a Russian-born Marxist theorist, journalist, and activist who became a prominent figure in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).

He held to his concept of a "workers' democracy" as a modified phase of capitalist development, arguing that Russia was not yet ripe for socialism.

Parvus was the primary author of the "Financial Manifesto" of December 1905, which urged citizens to undermine the state by withdrawing their deposits from banks in gold.

Instead, he moved to Germany to join the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), convinced that Germany was the country most advanced on the path to socialism and that the world revolution would be decided there.

Alexander Israel Helphand (born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand, Russian: Израиль Лазаревич Гельфанд; 27 August 1867-12 December 1924), better known as Alexander Parvus, was a Russian-born Marxist theorist, journalist, and activist who became a prominent figure in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).