Gots was born in
Šiauliai in the
Kovno Governorate of the
Russian Empire (present-day
Lithuania) into a wealthy Jewish family. He studied at the University of Moscow and joined 'The
People's Will' in 1884. In October 1886 he was arrested and banished to Siberia. In 1889 he took part in a convicts' uprising in Yakutsk and was sentenced to hard labour in Siberia for life. In 1895 an amnesty enabled Gots to emigrate to Paris, where he collaborated with
Nikolai Rusanov and
Ilya Rubanovich in editing the PSR newspaper
Herald of the Russian Revolution (
Vestnik Russkoi Revoliutsii). With
Victor Chernov, Gots also edited the PSR's theoretical journal,
Revolutionary Russia (
Revoliutsionnaia Rossiia). Gots was also instrumental in establishing relations between the PSR and French and Italian socialist parties. In 1901, the Russian government demanded Gots' extradition from Italy. This led to a diplomatic crisis and to the cancellation of the Tsar's proposed visit to Italy. Gots died of cancer in 1906. == References ==