Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev (born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky; 23 September [O.S. 11 September] 1883 – 25 August 1936) was a Russian revolutionary and Soviet politician. An Old Bolshevik, Zinoviev was a prominent figure in the leadership of the early Soviet Union and served as chairman of the Communist International (Comintern) from 1919 to 1926.
Grigory Zinoviev | |
|---|---|
Григорий Зиновьев | |
Zinoviev in 1920 | |
| Chairman of the Communist International | |
| In office 2 March 1919 – 22 November 1926 | |
| Preceded by | Position created |
| Succeeded by | Nikolai Bukharin |
| Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet | |
| In office 13 December 1917 – 26 March 1926 | |
| Preceded by | Leon Trotsky |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Full member of the 6th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th Politburo | |
| In office 10 October – 29 November 1917 | |
| In office 16 March 1921 – 2 June 1924 | |
| Candidate member of the 8th, 9th Politburo | |
| In office 25 March 1919 – 16 March 1921 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky 23 September 1883 Yelizavetgrad, Russian Empire |
| Died | 25 August 1936 (aged 52) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Cause of death | Execution by shooting |
| Political party | RSDLP (1901–1903) RSDLP (Bolsheviks) (1903–1918) Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (1918–1927, 1928–1932, 1933–1934) |
Born in Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire) to a Jewish family, Zinoviev joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1901. He sided with Vladimir Lenin's Bolsheviks in the party's 1903 split with the Mensheviks, becoming one of his closest associates. He spent time in exile with Lenin and returned with him to Russia after the February Revolution of 1917. Before the October Revolution, Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev opposed an armed seizure of power, losing the trust of Lenin, who began relying on Leon Trotsky. During Lenin's final illness and after his death in 1924, Zinoviev allied with Kamenev and Joseph Stalin against Trotsky. The "troika" fell apart, and in 1926 Zinoviev and Kamenev briefly entered with Trotsky in the United Opposition against Stalin; this alliance was defeated. Zinoviev was expelled from the party in 1927, and soon re-admitted after submitting to Stalin.
After the assassination of Sergei Kirov, a close ally of Stalin, in 1934, Zinoviev was accused of complicity in his killing, convicted, and sentenced to ten years in prison. While imprisoned in 1936, Zinoviev was further accused of treason during the Stalinist Great Purge, and he was executed after a show trial in August 1936.