Statesman.
Yakov Sverdlov was the formal head of state of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. He was a loyal ally of Lenin and an excellent manager of the party.
Background
Lived: 1885-1919.
Yakov’s father was a Jewish engraver who also secretly traded with false documents and arms. They lived in Nizhni Novgorod. His older brother Zinovy Peshkov was adopted by Maxim Gorky and became a prominent war general in France. Yakov became associated with the revolutionaries and was arrested 14 times between 1906-17.
Revolution of 1905
He participated in the Revolution of 1905 as an excellent public speaker-agitator. In between several arrests he worked for Pravda and was betrayed in 1912 by the famous double agent Roman Malinovsky. He was sent to Turuhansk in 1913 where he shared a room with Stalin. Their relations were not too good.
February Revolution
After return to Petrograd, Sverdlov was named a member of Central Committee and he proved himself as a man of brilliant organizational abilities. It was said that Lenin provided the theories and Sverdlov made them work. He was in charge of the Bolshevik headquarters while Lenin was in hiding after the July Days.
October Revolution
Following the October Revolution, Sverdlov was appointed Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, officially a head of state.
He was mostly in charge of organizing party control and a day to day functioning. There is evidence that he personally gave order to murder the Romanov family in July 1918.
Death
In March 1919, Sverdlov was on a trip near Oryol. He died of the Spanish flu influenza at the age of 33.
Yakov Sverdlov
Statesman.
Yakov Sverdlov was the formal head of state of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. He was a loyal ally of Lenin and an excellent manager of the party.
Background
Lived: 1885-1919.
Yakov’s father was a Jewish engraver who also secretly traded with false documents and arms. They lived in Nizhni Novgorod. His older brother Zinovy Peshkov was adopted by Maxim Gorky and became a prominent war general in France. Yakov became associated with the revolutionaries and was arrested 14 times between 1906-17.
Revolution of 1905
He participated in the Revolution of 1905 as an excellent public speaker-agitator. In between several arrests he worked for Pravda and was betrayed in 1912 by the famous double agent Roman Malinovsky. He was sent to Turuhansk in 1913 where he shared a room with Stalin. Their relations were not too good.
February Revolution
After return to Petrograd, Sverdlov was named a member of Central Committee and he proved himself as a man of brilliant organizational abilities. It was said that Lenin provided the theories and Sverdlov made them work. He was in charge of the Bolshevik headquarters while Lenin was in hiding after the July Days.
October Revolution
Following the October Revolution, Sverdlov was appointed Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, officially a head of state.
He was mostly in charge of organizing party control and a day to day functioning. There is evidence that he personally gave order to murder the Romanov family in July 1918.
Death
In March 1919, Sverdlov was on a trip near Oryol. He died of the Spanish flu influenza at the age of 33.
Alexey Rykov