Matter of People (First Russian Ins. Co.)

Cardozo, Ch. J.

Appellant, the assignee of a foreign policyholder of First Russian Insurance Company, filed a proof of claim with the Superintendent of Insurance to recover the amount due under a policy of insurance issued to his assignor in Russia in 1910.

By the policy the insurer undertook, in consideration of semi-annual premiums, to pay to the insured in June, 1923, the sum of 10,000 rubles. The insured paid the premiums until June, 1918, when the revolution in Russia and the decrees of the Soviet Republic prevented further payments at the place stated in the contract. Among the provisions…