Aleksandr Sergeyevich Shcherbakov (; – 10 May 1945) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

politician and statesman who was a wartime head of the Main Political Directorate of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

as well as the director of the Soviet Information Bureau.

Career

Shcherbakov was born into a working-class family in Ruza, near Moscow. The family moved to

Rybinsk Rybinsk (, ) is the second-largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Yaroslavl Oblast in Russia. It lies at the confluence of the Volga and Sheksna rivers, north-north-east of Moscow. Population: It was previously known as '' ...

after his father's death in 1907. After primary school, he was sent to work as an apprentice, at the age of 12, in a Rybinsk print works. He was sent to work in a factory at the age of 10. He joined the

Red Guards The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

in 1917, and joined the Communist Party in 1918. He worked for

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

in Rybinsk during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. In 1921–24, he studied at Sverdlov University, Moscow. In 1924, he started work as a party official in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

, where he gained the trust of the provincial party boss,

Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андрей Александрович Жданов, p=ɐnˈdrʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ˈʐdanəf, a=Ru-Андрей Жданов.ogg, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician. He was ...

. In 1930–32, he studied at the Institute of Red Professors. In 1932, he was transferred to party headquarters in Moscow. In 1934, after Zhdanov had moved to Moscow to take charge of the party's cultural policies, Shcherbakov was appointed head of the Cultural-Education department of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

, and, after the first Soviet Writers' Congress, in August 1934, he was appointed First Secretary of the Union of Soviet Writers, although he "was not a writer but a full-time party

apparatchik __NOTOC__ An '' apparatchik'' () was a full-time, professional functionary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union or the government of the Soviet Union, Soviet government ''apparat'' (Wiktionary:аппарат#Russian, аппарат, appar ...

, and had not even been a Congress delegate." This meant that he ran the union, while the writer

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (; ), was a Russian and Soviet writer and proponent of socialism. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an aut ...

held the honorary position of chairman. Following the latter's death in 1936, Shcherbakov was transferred back to full time party work as Second Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Party Committee, under Zhdanov. During the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, he served "as a mobile purger to various reluctant provinces." In 1937–38, he was First Secretary of the East Siberian regional party, based in

Irkutsk Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and , ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 587,891 Irkutsk is the List of cities and towns in Russ ...

. For part of 1938, he was First Secretary in the

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...

region of Ukraine. Late in 1938, he became First Secretary of the Moscow Regional Party Committee in 1938, a post he held until his death. During the German-Soviet War, Shcherbakov served as the head of the political directorate of the

(with the rank of

colonel general Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

) in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, and at the same time was director of the Soviet Information Bureau. According to Antony Beevor's book, ''Stalingrad, The Fateful Siege: 1942–1943'', "One of the richest sources in the Russian Ministry of Defence central archive at Podolsk consists of the very detailed reports sent daily from the Stalingrad Front to Aleksandr Shcherbakov." Shcherbakov died of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome caused by an impairment in the heart's ability to Cardiac cycle, fill with and pump blood. Although symptoms vary based on which side of the heart is affected, HF ...

on 10 May 1945, right after Victory Day, and the following year the town of

was renamed ''Shcherbakov'' in his honour (its original name was restored in 1957). In January 1953,

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

announced that he had been murdered, a victim of the

Doctors' plot The "doctors' plot" () was a Soviet state-sponsored anti-intellectual and anti-cosmopolitan campaign based on a conspiracy theory that alleged an anti-Soviet cabal of prominent medical specialists, including some of Jewish ethnicity, intend ...

. This story was discredited later that same year, after Stalin's death.

Personality

The real causes of Shcherbakov's death were obesity and excessive drinking. The writer

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn. (11 December 1918 – 3 August 2008) was a Soviet and Russian author and Soviet dissidents, dissident who helped to raise global awareness of political repression in the Soviet Union, especially the Gulag pris ...

knew Shcherbakov's former chauffeur, from whom he learnt that "the obese Shcherbakov hated to see people around when he arrived at his Informburo, so they temporarily removed all those who were working in the offices he had to walk through. Grunting because of his fat, he would lean down and pull up a corner of the carpet. The whole Informburo caught it if he found any dust there."

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

, who had a very negative attitude towards him and considered Shcherbakov to be "a poisonous snake" and "one of the most contemptible characters around

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

" wrote that "Shcherbakov ended up drinking himself to death – and he drank not so much because he had a craving for alcohol, but simply because it pleased Stalin when people around him drank themselves under the table." According to historian Natalia Borisova “he (Shcherbakov) enjoyed enormous authority in Moscow. He was respected, even revered, listening to every word. Many later remembered him as a most noble man, a spiritual aristocrat, an exceptional personality”.

Family

* Wife is Vera Konstantinovna Scherbakova, née Pestroukhova (1902-05-06 — 1948-06-09) — communications engineer. She shared three sons with Alexander:''Московченко О.'' Памяти главного комиссара Победы. 10 октября 2021 года исполнилось 120 лет со дня рождения генерал-полковника Александра Сергеевича Щербакова. // Красная звезда. — 2021, 11 октября. — С.12.
/ref> ** col. Alexander Alexandrovich Scherbakov (1925–2013) — a Honoured Test Pilot of the USSR, a

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

, Ph.D.; *** granddaughter Elena Alexandrovna Scherbakova (b. 1952), People's Performer of the Russian Federation, a

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

, a

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, laureate of government award, art director of Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance. ** Konstantin Alexandrovich Scherbakov (b. 1938) — Russian film scholar and writer, Honored Artist of the Russian Federation; ** Ivan Alexandrovich Scherbakov (b. 1944) — physicist, full member of

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

, former director of GPI RAS.

References

External links

Generals.dk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shcherbakov, Aleksandr 1901 births 1945 deaths People from Moscow Oblast People from Ruzsky Uyezd Candidates of the Politburo of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Orgburo of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Secretariat of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union First convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Deputies of Mossoviet 20th-century Russian male writers Soviet writers Institute of Red Professors alumni Soviet colonel generals Chiefs of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Soviet Navy Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class Burials at the Kremlin Wall Necropolis