Sergey Kirov

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Sergei Mironovich Kirov (Серге́й Миро́нович Ки́ров) (March 27, 1886 – December 1, 1934) was a prominent early Bolshevik leader whose assassination occurred at the beginning of the Great Purge, the final dismissal of Joseph Stalin's enemies and all remaining Old Bolsheviks from the Soviet government.

Youth

He was born Sergei Mironovich Kostrikov (Ко́стриков), later assuming the name "Kirov" as an alias. Born to a poor family in Urzhum, Russia, Kirov lost his parents when he was young. His father, Miron Kostrikov, had left him at a tender age; his mother Ekaterina Kitun Kostrikov also died in the subsequent year. As a child, Sergei was brought up by his grandmother before being sent to an orphanage at seven years of age. In 1901 a group of wealthy benefactors provided a scholarship for him to attend an industrial school at Kazan. After gaining his degree in Engineering he moved to Tomsk. As Russian society went into crisis, Kirov became a Marxist and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) in 1904.

Russian revolutions

Kirov took part in the Russian Revolution of 1905, and was arrested and later released. He joined with the Bolsheviks soon after being released from prison. In 1906, Kirov was arrested once again, but this time jailed for over three years, charged with printing illegal literature. Soon after his release, he again took part in revolutionary activity. Once again being arrested for printing illegal literature, after a year of custody, Kostrikov moved to the Caucasus, where he stayed until the abdication of Nicholas II.

By this time, Sergei Kostrikov had changed his name to Kirov. He had selected it as a pseudonym, just as other Russian revolutionary leaders. The name "Kir" reminded him of an ancient Persian warrior king (Cyrus), and he was to become commander of the Bolshevik military administration in Astrakhan.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, he fought in the Russian Civil War until 1920. In 1921, he became manager of the Azerbaijan party organization. Kirov supported Joseph Stalin loyally, and in 1926 he was rewarded with the command of the Leningrad party.

Popularity and death

In the 1930s, Stalin apparently became worried increasingly about Kirov's growing popularity. At the 1934 Party Congress where the vote for the new Central Committee was held, Kirov received only three negative votes, the fewest of any candidate, while Stalin received 292 negative votes, the highest of any candidate. Kirov was close friends with Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and together they formed a moderate bloc to Stalin in the Politburo. Later in 1934, Stalin asked Kirov to work for him in Moscow. One theory suggests that Stalin did this in order to keep Kirov nearby so he could be more easily surveilled, despite Stalin's supposed control of the NKVD. Kirov refused, and according to the same theory, as a result became a competitor in Stalin's eyes.

On December 1, 1934, Kirov was killed by Leonid Nikolaev (also seen spelt Nikolayev) in the Smolny Institute Leningrad. Kirov had arrived at the Smolny to work in his office, and, apparently leaving his bodyguard downstairs, headed to the upper floors, where the officials had their rooms. Nikolayev emerged from a bathroom and followed Kirov towards his office, shooting him in the back of the neck. Stalin claimed that Nikolayev was part of a larger conspiracy led by Leon Trotsky against the Soviet government. This resulted in the arrest and execution of Lev Kamenev, Grigory Zinoviev, and fourteen others in 1936. The death of Kirov ignited the great purge where supporters of Trotsky and other suspected enemies of the state were arrested. Much controversy still exists today over the murder. It has been speculated that Stalin was the man who ordered the murder of Kirov, and that the shooting was carried out with the help of the NKVD, but this has never been proven. Others have speculated that Kirov was having an affair with Nikolayev's wife and that though this may not have been the sole factor, the NKVD may have used it to incite him. Again, this has never been proven. His assassination may simply have been a random act of violence of which Stalin took advantage.

Legacy

Stalin acted publicly as though his friend's death was a tragedy and had him buried by the Kremlin Wall in a state funeral. Many cities, streets and factories took his name, including the cities of Kirov (formerly Vyatka), Kirovsk (Murmansk Oblast), Kirovograd (Kirovohrad in Ukrainian), Kirovabad (today Ganja, Azerbaijan) and Kirovakan (today Vanadzor, Armenia), the station Kirovskaya of the Moscow Metro (now Chistiye Prudy), Kirov Ballet, and the massive Kirov industrial plant in Saint Petersburg. In the city of Kirov a speedskating match , the Priz Imeni S.M. Kirova, was named for him. This match is the longest enduring annual organised race in speedskating apart from the World Speed Skating Championships and the European Speed Skating Championships.

For many years, a huge statue of Kirov in granite and bronze dominated the panorama of the city of Baku. The monument was erected on a hill in 1939 and was dismantled in January of 1992, after Azerbaijan gained its independence. The Kirov class of battlecruisers is named in his honor, though the first-of-class vessel originally named Kirov has since been renamed Admiral Ushakov.

Trivia

Kirov was a very popular figure during his reign in Leningrad.

The movie 2010: The Year We Make Contact mentions a Soviet space station named Sergei Kirov.

In the game Red Alert 2, the Soviets have the ability to build the 'Kirov Airship', an extremely slow but powerful zeppelin.

References

Amy Knight, Who Killed Kirov : The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery, Hill and Wang, 1999, ISBN 0-8090-6404-9

External links

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Last updated on Friday February 08, 2008 at 18:41:09 PST (GMT -0800)
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