Jan Gamarnik (birth name Jakiv Borysovych Pudykovych (Ukrainian: Я́кiв Бори́сович Пудико́вич), sometimes known as Yakov Gamarnik (Russian: Яков Гамарник) (June 2 [ O.S. May 21] 1894 – May 31, 1937) was a Soviet military commander and politician of Jewish ethnicity.

Biography

Gamarnik was born in Zhytomyr in a Jewish family as Jakiv Borysovych Pudykovych. He attended the St Petersburg Psychoneurological Institute and the Law School of Kiev University. In 1917 he became the member and a secretary of the Kiev committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1921 to 1923 Harmanyk was a chairman of the Kiev city council (see Mayor of Kiev). During his administration Kiev was divided into five districts. He went through many Communist Party positions, both civil and military, e.g. a First Secretary of the Belarusian Communist Party of Belorussia from December 1928 to October 1929.

He was instrumental in preparing the 10-year development plan for the Far-Eastern region of the USSR.

An idealist, Gamarnik was a staunch supporter of Marshal Tukhachevsky's drive to make USSR a militarysuperpower. In 1937 Gamarnik was accused of participating in an anti-Soviet conspiracy after the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization; however, shortly before the trial he had actually been called upon by the Soviet government to be one of the judges for the accused. He insisted on Tukhachevsky's innocence and later committed suicide before he could be punished for his actions. Only after this was he added to the list of conspirators. He was rehabilitated posthumously by the CC CPSU and Nikita Khrushchev in 1955.

Honours and awards 

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

• Order of Lenin (22 February 1933)
• Order of the Red Banner (20 February 1928)