Nikolai Podvoisky on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Nikolai Podvoisky was born in Kunochevsk village in the Chernihiv Oblast, Chernihiv (formerly Chernigov) province, in to a Ukrainian family, one of seven children of a former teacher who had become a priest. In 1901, he was expelled from Chernigov Seminary for political activities. In that same year, he enrolled in the Law Faculty in
By the time Trotsky wrote his history of the Bolshevik revolution, Podvoisky had joined his enemies, yet Trotsky wrote about him more respectfully than about many of the others who went on to join Stalin's faction.
Nikolai Ilyich Podvoisky (russian: Николай Ильич Подвойский; February 16 O.S_February_4.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>
statesman and the first People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs of the Russian SFSR.
He played a large role in the Russian Revolution of 1917 and wrote many articles for the Soviet newspaper ''Krasnaya Gazeta''. He also wrote a history of the October Revolution, Bolshevik Revolution, which describes progress of the Russian Revolution.
O.S_February_4">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S_February_4_1880_–_July_28,_1948)_was_a_Russian_
revolutionary, Soviet Union">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 ...O.S_February_4">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html"_;"title="nowiki/>Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S_February_4_1880_–_July_28,_1948)_was_a_Russian_Bolsheviks">Bolshevik_
The_Bolsheviks_(russian:_Большевики́,_from_большинство́_''bol'shinstvó'',_'majority'),;_derived_from_''bol'shinstvó''_(большинство́),_"majority",_literally_meaning_"one_of_the_majority"._also_known_in_English_...
_revolutionary,_Soviet_Union.html" "title="Bolsheviks.html" "title="Old Style and New Style dates">O.S February 4">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S February 4 1880 – July 28, 1948) was a Russian Bolsheviks">Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...Early life
Nikolai Podvoisky was born in Kunochevsk village in the Chernihiv Oblast, Chernihiv (formerly Chernigov) province, in to a Ukrainian family, one of seven children of a former teacher who had become a priest. In 1901, he was expelled from Chernigov Seminary for political activities. In that same year, he enrolled in the Law Faculty in Yaroslavl
Yaroslavl ( rus, Ярослáвль, p=jɪrɐˈsɫavlʲ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluenc ...
, and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), using the alias 'Mironovich'. After the RSDLP split in 1903, he became a leading figure in the Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
organisation in Yaroslavl. He was arrested in 1904 and again in 1905, for helping organise a strike by the city's railway workers, but soon released on both occasions. Injured during a demonstration, he sought treatment in Germany and Switzerland. He returned to Russia in 1906, and worked illegally as Bolshevik organiser in St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Kostroma
Kostroma ( rus, Кострома́, p=kəstrɐˈma) is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kostroma Oblast, Russia. A part of the Golden Ring of Russia, Golden Ring of Russian cities, it is lo ...
, and Baku. In 1913, he settled near St. Petersburg to organise the smuggling of Bolshevik literature into Russia. He was arrested in November 1916, but released during the February Revolution.
Revolution and civil war
In March 1917, Podvoisky was co-opted onto the Petrograd (St. Petersburg) Bolshevik committee, and was appointed head of the Bolshevik Military Organisation. This organisation played a critical role during the disturbances that threatened to bring down Russia'sProvisional Government
A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...
in July 1917.
Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
acknowledged that "under Podvoisky, who easily mastered the functions of command, an impromptu general staff was formed...In order to protect the demonstration from attack, armoured cars were placed at the bridges leading to the capital and at the central crossings of the main streets." After the demonstrations were suppressed, Podvoisky — according to Trotsky — veered from being "too impetuous" to becoming "far more cautious", but despite his scepticism played a leading part in the military operation that overthrew the Provisional Government
in November 1917, including planning the final act that brought down the government, the assault on the Winter Palace
The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...
.
Later career
Immediately following the Bolshevik Revolution in November 1917, Podvoisky was one of a troika, withNikolai Krylenko
Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko ( rus, Никола́й Васи́льевич Крыле́нко, p=krɨˈlʲenkə; May 2, 1885 – July 29, 1938) was an Old Bolshevik and Soviet politician. Krylenko served in a variety of posts in the Soviet ...
and Pavel Dybenko
Pavel Efimovich Dybenko (russian: Павел Ефимович Дыбенко), (February 16, 1889 – July 29, 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a leading Soviet officer and military commander.
Prior to military service
Pavel Dybenko was b ...
appointed People's Commissar for Defence, before they were replaced by Trotsky, in March 1918. He was a founder of the Red Army, but was not an important military commander. He rapidly lost influence during the civil war, part of which he spent in Ukraine. At the tenth party congress of the Russian Communist Party, in March 1920, he proposed that the army should be demobilised and replaced by a localised militia system, a proposal that received no notable support.
In 1920, Podvoisky was appointed Chairman of the Supreme Council of Physical Culture, which ran the system of compulsory physical training of youths prior to their being called up for military service. In July 1921, during the third Comintern congress, in Moscow, he founded the Red Sport International
The International Association of Red Sports and Gymnastics Associations, commonly known as Red Sport International (RSI) or Sportintern was a Comintern-supported international sports organization established in July 1921. The RSI was established i ...
(Sportintern), whose task, according to him, was to "convert sport and gymnastics into a weapon of the class revolutionary struggle, concentrate attention of workers and peasants on sport and gymnastics as one of the best instruments, method and weapons for their class organisation and struggle."
He lost the chairmanship of the Supreme Council of Physical Culture when he was replaced by Nikolai Semashko in 1923, and by 1926 he had lost effective control of Sportintern to the head of the Communist Youth International, Vissarion Lominadze
Vissarion Vissarionovich "Beso" Lominadze ( ka, ბესარიონ ლომინაძე; russian: Виссарион Виссарионович Ломинадзе; 6 June 1897 – January 1935), was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet ...
.
In 1924-30, Podvoisky was a member of the Central Control Commission, and a reliable supporter 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 ...
against Trotsky and other oppositionists.
From 1935 he was retired and was a personal pensioner. He was engaged in propaganda, literary and journalistic activities for the remainder of his life.
In October 1941, after he was not accepted for military service because of his age, Podvoisky volunteered to lead the digging of trenches near Moscow.
On July 28, 1948, Nikolai Podvoisky died of a severe heart attack in Moscow. He was buried with military honors in Moscow at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Advising Eisenstein
In 1927, Podvoisky was the leading consultant on the film '' October'', directed bySergei Eisenstein
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...
, to mark the tenth anniversary of the October revolution. He helped Eisenstein to find suitable locations in Leningrad
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, and told him: "You know how stubborn I am, you'd better not argue with me! Better listen to me, and then later don't do it. But make a note of everything I say so that I have the impression I'm being listened to."
On Nudity
Podvoisky was also the foremost soviet exponent of nudity. He wrote: He continued writing on sport and as a party historian until he retired on health grounds in 1935.Personality
By the time Trotsky wrote his history of the Bolshevik revolution, Podvoisky had joined his enemies, yet Trotsky wrote about him more respectfully than about many of the others who went on to join Stalin's faction.
Family
Podvoisky married Nina Didrikil (1882–1953), an Old Bolshevik, who worked at theLenin Institute
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of t ...
, preparing Lenin's manuscript for publication. They had five daughters, one of whom, Nina, married the son of the high ranking Bolshevik Yakov Sverdlov
Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (russian: Яков Михайлович Свердлов; 3 June Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._22_May.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S ...
and a son, Lev, who married the daughter of the Bolshevik Solomon Lozovsky
Solomon Abramovich Lozovsky (russian: Соломон Абрамович Лозовский, family birth name: Dridzo russian: Дридзо, 1878–1952) was a prominent Communist and Bolshevik revolutionary, a high-ranking official in the Soviet ...
. One of Nina's sisters married the Chekist, Mikhail Kedrov; the other was mother of another chekist, Artur Artuzov
Artur Khristyanovich Artuzov (name at birth: Artur Eugene Leonard Fraucci) (russian: Арту́р Христиа́нович Арту́зов (), (18 February 1891 – 21 August 1937) was a leading figure in the Soviet international intelligence a ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podvoisky, Nikolai 1880 births 1948 deaths Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Old Bolsheviks People from Chernihiv Oblast People from Nezhinsky Uyezd People of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Russian Constituent Assembly members Russian Marxist historians Russian revolutionaries Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Soviet defence ministers of Ukraine Soviet historians Soviet Marxist historians Soviet Ministers of Defence