Reluctant to pursue his studies and prepared from adolescence for any adventure, the young Zinovy trolled the streets of Nizhny Novgorod on the fringes of legality, spending his time with the many thugs on the banks of the Volga.
In 1896, salvation came upon his meeting a character who undoubtedly had ties to the Sverdlov family, although we have no knowledge of the exact relations between them.
Originally from the region where he was placed under house arrest (Nizhny Novgorod, his home town, is 100 km north of Arzamas, where he was exiled), Maxim Gorky – who was then 28 years old – took under his protection the young Zinovy, who he undoubtedly saw as a kind of double as well as a quirky reflection of his own journey.

Gorky organized meetings, promoting his ideas throughout Russia with an uncommon energy.
Acting as a kind of secretary and “jack of all trades”, Zinovy brought him a support that was as fervent as it was efficient.
He shared his arrests and imprisonments ordered by a hostile regime, at a moment when Gorky was at the threshold of huge success both in and out of Russia, a success which relied on a radical criticism of the aristocracy.
Under the guidance of his mentor, the young man, perhaps at the advice of Stanislavski, tried himself in the theater in Moscow as well as in writing.
He also collected romantic conquests and opened himself to the world.

1902 was a milestone for Gorky and Sverdlov.
The presentation on the stage of the Moscow Theater of “The Lower Depths” marked the first triumph of the writer.
At the same moment, his election to the Academy of Literature – which had been annulled by Nicholas II – a major public event, joined another more private one, the adoption at Arzamas, under Russian Orthodox rites, of the young Zinovy.
In order to bypass the law limiting movement and settlement of Jews in the empire, but also to mark his link with the writer, Zinovy was baptized on September 30, 1902, in the city church.
He officially changed his name, adopting the real last name of Gorky, Peshkov, since the latter was his official godfather.

Wishing to avoid induction into the armies of the Tsar during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, Zinovy Peshkov went abroad.
After Finland, England and Sweden, he ended up settling in Canada, where he worked in a number of trades.
Few details are known about this wandering life, except those which his letters to Gorky reveal to us.
The 1905 revolution and its upheavals drove the writer into exile.

In April 1906, Zinovy joined his friend on a dock in New York, the first step in a tour in which mobs crowded in to hear his speeches.
The New York Times interviewed Peshkov, giving information about Gorky's forthcoming visit, and noting that their source "Nikolay Zavolzsky Pieshkoff (sic), Gorky's adopted son", had fled Russia and for  more than a year: "has been living quietly on the east side and earning his living in the mailing room of Wilshire's Magazine."
Four days later the New York Times covered an event where Gorky spoke at length, and was supported by Mark Twain.
In this report Peshkov is described as: "Kikolay Zavolsky Pieshkoff, the adopted son of Gorky".
 Unfortunately American opinion, at first charmed by the oratorical capacities of Gorky, to which Peshkov’s intermediation provided picturesque relief, changed quickly when it learned that the writer was travelling not with his wife, but with his mistress, Maria Andreieva.
Persona non grata, Gorky was forced after being expelled from his hotel to find an improvised pied-a-terre in New York.
In October, he left the United States bound for Italy, leaving Zinovy behind.

After a year of wandering across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to New Zealand, Peshkov rejoined his adopted father in Italy in May 1907.
This was the period of the “School of Capri”, which was an especially formative time for him since many intellectuals and artists (Chaliapine, for example), gathered there; in addition, there were Bolshevik revolutionaries in exile – Lenin, Bogdanov, Lunatsharsky, Bazarov, etc. –
generously hosted by the writer
Reluctant to pursue his studies and prepared from adolescence for any adventure, the young Zinovy trolled the streets of Nizhny Novgorod on the fringes of legality, spending his time with the many thugs on the banks of the Volga. In 1896, salvation came upon his meeting a character who undoubtedly had ties to the Sverdlov family, although we have no knowledge of the exact relations between them. Originally from the region where he was placed under house arrest (Nizhny Novgorod, his home town, is 100 km north of Arzamas, where he was exiled), Maxim Gorky – who was then 28 years old – took under his protection the young Zinovy, who he undoubtedly saw as a kind of double as well as a quirky reflection of his own journey.
Gorky organized meetings, promoting his ideas throughout Russia with an uncommon energy. Acting as a kind of secretary and “jack of all trades”, Zinovy brought him a support that was as fervent as it was efficient. He shared his arrests and imprisonments ordered by a hostile regime, at a moment when Gorky was at the threshold of huge success both in and out of Russia, a success which relied on a radical criticism of the aristocracy. Under the guidance of his mentor, the young man, perhaps at the advice of Stanislavski, tried himself in the theater in Moscow as well as in writing. He also collected romantic conquests and opened himself to the world.
1902 was a milestone for Gorky and Sverdlov. The presentation on the stage of the Moscow Theater of “The Lower Depths” marked the first triumph of the writer. At the same moment, his election to the Academy of Literature – which had been annulled by Nicholas II – a major public event, joined another more private one, the adoption at Arzamas, under Russian Orthodox rites, of the young Zinovy. In order to bypass the law limiting movement and settlement of Jews in the empire, but also to mark his link with the writer, Zinovy was baptized on September 30, 1902, in the city church. He officially changed his name, adopting the real last name of Gorky, Peshkov, since the latter was his official godfather.
Wishing to avoid induction into the armies of the Tsar during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, Zinovy Peshkov went abroad. After Finland, England and Sweden, he ended up settling in Canada, where he worked in a number of trades. Few details are known about this wandering life, except those which his letters to Gorky reveal to us. The 1905 revolution and its upheavals drove the writer into exile.
In April 1906, Zinovy joined his friend on a dock in New York, the first step in a tour in which mobs crowded in to hear his speeches. The New York Times interviewed Peshkov, giving information about Gorky's forthcoming visit, and noting that their source "Nikolay Zavolzsky Pieshkoff (sic), Gorky's adopted son", had fled Russia and for  more than a year: "has been living quietly on the east side and earning his living in the mailing room of Wilshire's Magazine." Four days later the New York Times covered an event where Gorky spoke at length, and was supported by Mark Twain. In this report Peshkov is described as: "Kikolay Zavolsky Pieshkoff, the adopted son of Gorky".  Unfortunately American opinion, at first charmed by the oratorical capacities of Gorky, to which Peshkov’s intermediation provided picturesque relief, changed quickly when it learned that the writer was travelling not with his wife, but with his mistress, Maria Andreieva. Persona non grata, Gorky was forced after being expelled from his hotel to find an improvised pied-a-terre in New York. In October, he left the United States bound for Italy, leaving Zinovy behind.
After a year of wandering across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to New Zealand, Peshkov rejoined his adopted father in Italy in May 1907. This was the period of the “School of Capri”, which was an especially formative time for him since many intellectuals and artists (Chaliapine, for example), gathered there; in addition, there were Bolshevik revolutionaries in exile – Lenin, Bogdanov, Lunatsharsky, Bazarov, etc. – generously hosted by the writer
Zinovy Peshkov