Bogdan Zakharovich Kobulov (russian: Богда́н Заха́рович Кобу́лов; 1 March 1904 – 23 December 1953) served as a senior member of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

security- and police-apparatus during the rule of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. After Stalin's death he was executed along with his former chief and patron

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...

Career

Bogdan Kobulov was born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

, the son of a tailor. He left school early, and was reputedly illiterate. He did odd jobs before being drafted into the Red Army in 1921. He joined Cheka in 1922, and held minor posts, until he was spotted by Beria in 1931 and recruited to the Secret Political department of the OGPU in Georgia. In April 1937, during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...

, he was appointed head of the Secret-Political Department of the Georgian

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

, which meant that he was in charge of eliminating officers associated with the ex-head of the NKVD,

Genrikh Yagoda Genrikh Grigoryevich Yagoda ( rus, Ге́нрих Григо́рьевич Яго́да, Genrikh Grigor'yevich Yagoda, born Yenokh Gershevich Iyeguda; 7 November 1891 – 15 March 1938) was a Soviet secret police official who served as director ...

. In December 1938, after Beria took control of the NKVD, he transferred Kobulov to Moscow, as head of the newly created Investigative Directorat of the NKVD. He was in charge of major investigations, including the mass executions of thousand of Polish prisoners in the Katyn woods in 1940. He was also in charge of the case against Beria's predecessor, Nikolai Yezhov. In May 1940, he signed the warrant for the arrest of the writer

Isaac Babel Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel (russian: Исаак Эммануилович Бабель, p=ˈbabʲɪlʲ; – 27 January 1940) was a Russian writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of ''Red Cavalry'' ...

. From 1939, he was a candidate member of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. From April 1939, he was Head of the Main Economic Department of the NKVD/MGB. In 1944, he was involved in the mass deportation of the

Chechens The Chechens (; ce, Нохчий, , Old Chechen: Нахчой, ''Naxçoy''), historically also known as ''Kisti'' and ''Durdzuks'', are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. "Eu ...

and other small nations, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After 1945, he was transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Trade, but was brought back to the security organs as First Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, under Beria, after the death of Stalin in March 1953. When Beria fell from power, Kobulov was arrested along with his boss on 27 June 1953; he was convicted on multiple charges, including espionage, and sentenced to death and executed on 23 December 1953.

References

External links

Кто руководил НКВД, 1934—1941
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobulov, Bogdan 1904 births 1953 deaths Politicians from Tbilisi People from Tiflis Governorate Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members Commissars 2nd Class of State Security Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Armenian people executed by the Soviet Union People from Georgia (country) executed by the Soviet Union Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Georgian people of Armenian descent Cheka officers Soviet Armenians Soviet diplomats