Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (Russian: Я́ков Миха́йлович Свердло́в; IPA: [ˈjakəf mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪt͡ɕ svʲɪrdˈlof]); known under pseudonyms "Andrei", "Mikhalych", "Max", "Smirnov", "Permyakov" 3 June [O.S. 22 May] 1885 – 16 March 1919) was a Bolshevik party leader and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.

Early life

Sverdlov was born in Nizhny Novgorod as Yakov Movshevich Sverdlov to Jewish parents Mikhail Izrailevich Sverdlov and Elizaveta Solomonova, a housewife. His father was a politically active engraver who eventually went into forgery and arms storage and dealing partially to support his family. The Sverdlov family had six children: two daughters (Sophia and Sara) and four sons (Zinovy, Yakov, Veniamin, and Lev). After his wife's death in 1900, Mikhail converted himself and his family to the Russian Orthodox church and married Maria Aleksandrovna Kormiltsev and had two more sons (Herman and Alexander). His brother was adopted byMaxim Gorky who was a frequent guest at the house and became better-known as Zinovy Peshkov. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1902, and then the Bolshevik faction, supporting Vladimir Lenin. He was involved in the 1905 revolution.

After four years of high school, he became a prominent underground activist and speaker in Nizhny Novgorod. After his arrest in June 1906, for most of the time until 1917 he was either imprisoned or exiled. During the period 1914–1916 he was in internal exile in Turukhansk, Siberia, along with Joseph Stalin.

Work

After the 1917 February Revolution he returned to Petrograd from exile and was re-elected to the Central Committee. He played an important role in planning the October Revolution.

A book written in 1990 by the Moscow playwright Edvard Radzinsky claims that Sverdlov had a role in the killing of Tsar Nicholas II and his family. According to this book, Sverdlov ordered their execution on 16 July 1918, which took place in the city of Yekaterinburg. This book as well as other Radzinsky's books were characterized as "folk history" (Russian term for pseudohistory) by journalists and academic historians.[1][2][3][4][5] However Yuri Slezkine who received the National Jewish Book Award for his book " The Jewish Century " published by Princeton University Press in 2004 wrote in that very same book  : "Early in the Civil War, in June 1918, Lenin ordered the killing of Nicholas II and his family . Among the men entrusted with carrying out the orders were Sverdlov, Filipp Goloshchekin and Yakov Yurovsky ".

A close ally of Vladimir Lenin, Sverdlov played an important role in the controversial decisions to close down the Constituent Assembly and to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. It was claimed that Lenin provided the theories and Sverdlov made sure they worked. Later their relationship suffered as Lenin appeared to be too theoretical for practical Sverdlov.

He is sometimes referred to as the first head of state of the Soviet Union but this is not correct since the Soviet Union came into existence in 1922, three years after Sverdlov's death. However, as chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) he was the de jure head of state of the Russian SFSR from shortly after the October Revolution until the time of his death.

Death

Snow-covered statue of Sverdlov inYekaterinburg, formerly Sverdlovsk.

An official version is that Sverdlov died of influenza in Oryol during the 1918 flu pandemic, while returning to Moscow from Kharkiv during one of his political trips and got a flu during one of his outdoor speeches[citation needed]. He was a very thin individual on top of that. He is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, in Moscow. Another version is that he died of tuberculosis[citation needed]. Historian Arkadi Waksberg claimed that there were reliable rumours that Sverdlov was beaten to death by workers in Oryol, due to his Jewish origin, and that the incident was covered up to prevent an anti-semitic outburst[citation needed]. Another speculation is that he was eliminated due to his involvement in an attempt to assassinate Lenin.[6]

He was the first of the Old Bolsheviks to die. In 1924, Yekaterinburg was renamed Sverdlovsk in his honor. In 1991, Sverdlovsk was changed back to Yekaterinburg.

His son Andrei had a long career as an officer for the Soviet security organs (NKVD, OGPU). His niece Ida married NKVD chief Genrikh Yagoda.

Legacy

• The Imperial Russian Navy destroyer leader Novik (commissioned in 1913) was renamed Yakov Sverdlov in 1923.
• The lead ship of the Sverdlov class cruisers was also named after him.
• city of Yekaterinburg carried name of Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union (1924-1991).
• city of Luhansk Oblast (Ukraine) carries name Sverdlovsk to this day.