[1] In 1903, Riazanov became the first writer to introduce the concept of permanent revolution to the political literature of Russian Marxism when he published three studies in Geneva under the title Materials on the Program of the Workers' Party.

[6] Riazanov returned to Russia shortly after the start of the 1905 Russian Revolution, going to work in the trade union movement in the capital city of Saint Petersburg.

During this second interlude abroad, Riazanov dedicated himself to historical scholarship, studying the history of the International Workingmen's Association in the archives of the German Social-Democratic Party and in the British Museum in London.

[4] While in London, Riazanov read extensively from the files of the New-York Tribune and other newspapers, collecting material written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels for the periodical press.

[1] Riazanov actively supported Trotsky's Interdistrict Committee (the Mezhraionka), a group which shared the internationalist views of the Bolsheviks on the question of the war but which disagreed with them on organizational matters, seeking unity with revolutionary elements in the Menshevik camp.

[12] Working with Communist trade union leader Mikhail Tomsky, Riazanov also authored a resolution calling for wages to be paid with physical commodities rather than the devalued currency of the day — an action which put the duo at odds with Lenin, Stalin, and the party's Central Committee.

[12] Radical French writer Boris Souvarine later lauded Riazanov's activity in this period as that of "a conscious marxist, a democratic communist, in other words, opposed to any dictatorship over the proletariat.

In this context, as early as 1926, the publication of a multi-volume series called the Marx-Engels Archive, collecting scholarship on the biography and writings of the founders of Marxism, began under Riazanov's supervision.

[1] Victor Serge described Riazonov as "stout, strong-featured, beard and moustache thick and white, attentive eyes, Olympian forehead, stormy temperament, ironic utterance..." and noted that "the leaders were a little afraid of his frank way of talking.

The US journalist, William Reswick, heard a rumor in Moscow - which may be apocryphal - that Riazanov once told Stalin to his face: "You recite passages from Marx like a dull schoolboy without knowing what they mean.

Historian Isaac Deutscher recounted another episode at a party meeting in which he derided Stalin with the words "Stop it Koba, don't make a fool of yourself.

"[19] Addressing the Eleventh Party Congress in March 1922, after he had effectively been banned from political activity, Riazonov claimed: They say that the English Parliament can do everything except change a man into a woman.

"[20]In December 1930, Isaak Rubin, a research assistant at the Marx-Engels Institute since 1926, was arrested and charged with participation in a plot to establish an underground organization called the "Union Bureau of Mensheviks.

[21] Rubin claimed that he had kept an envelope containing secret documents of the mythical "Menshevik Center" in his office at the Marx-Engels Institute before discreetly passing them along to David Riazanov.

[27] According to historian Colum Leckey, David Riazanov's chief achievement lay in the realm of Marxology — acquiring, preparing, and publishing for the first time previously unknown writings of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.