Political and public figure, economist, publicist. He was part of the Russian Social-Democratic movement from the beginning of the 1900s. From 1903 to 1918 he was a Menshevik. From 1918 he worked in various organs of the Soviet state, including Gosplan (the State Planning Commission). He was among those who initiated and developed the "Crimea project". He was a member of the board of Komzet, and in 1925–26 the first deputy chairman of OZET; later he was its chairman. In 1927 he reigned from this post "for health reasons". In fact his resignation was the result of disagreements with the Party hierarchy in Ukraine and Crimea regarding the long-term development of Jewish autonomy. He was author of the book "Jews and anti-Semitism in the USSR" (1929). He was buried in the Kremlin wall.