Erdene Batkhaan (; born Nikita Fedorovich Batukhanov, ; 1888–1948?) was a Buryat intellectual. He served as the Minister of Education of the

Mongolian People's Republic The Mongolian People's Republic (MPR) was a socialist state that existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia. Its independence was officially recognized by the Nationalist government of Republic of China (1912� ...

from 1926 to 1930, during which he arranged for Mongolian children to study in Europe. He was exiled to the

Soviet Union 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 ...

in 1930, and in 1937 was arrested during the Stalinist

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 ...

Biography

Nikita Fedorovich Batukhanov (Batkhaan) was born in 1888 in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, and was later named Erdene ("precious" in Mongolian). In 1914, Batkhaan moved to Mongolia's capital of Niĭslel Khüree (today

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities in Mongolia, most populous city of Mongolia. It has a population of 1.6 million, and it is the coldest capital city in the world by average yearly temperature. The municipa ...

) to work as a teacher. In March 1921, he was appointed as the secretary of the provisional government of the 1921 revolution, and in November served as interpreter and adviser to the Mongolian delegation to the

. In 1924, Batkhaan was elected to the

Little Khural The Little Khural () or State Little Khural () was the presidium of the Mongolian People's Republic from 1924 until 1951 and then the standing legislature from 1990 to 1992. The original Little Khural of 1924 comprised five members elected by the ...

and gained a position in the Ministry of Education. Seeking guidance on literary translation, he wrote to Russian 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 ...

, whose reply in May 1925 (published in the Mongolian press) stated that "propaganda of the principle of activity" would be useful for Mongols to counter the Buddhist teaching that "desire is the source of suffering". Gorky recommended works of foreign science and fiction which "depict dthe heroism of man guided by the ideas of justice and freedom". While serving as the country's minister of education from 1926 to 1930, Batkhaan arranged for groups of Mongolian children to study in Germany and France for several years. He also organized the publication of Mongolian maps and an

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

in Europe, and the manufacture of a

Mongolian script The traditional Mongolian script, also known as the Hudum Mongol bichig, was the first Mongolian alphabet, writing system created specifically for the Mongolian language, and was the most widespread until the introduction of Cyrillic script, Cy ...

typewriter while in Germany. In 1929, Batkhaan was accused of "right opportunism" and relieved of his duties. The students were sent home from Europe "on holiday" that summer, never to return. In 1930, Batkhaan was sent to the Institute of Oriental Languages in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, where he taught Mongolian. During the

, he was arrested by the Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

in 1937 and sent to a

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

camp at

Ukhta Ukhta (; , ''Ukva'') is an important industrial town in the Komi Republic of Russia. Population: It was previously known as ''Chibyu'' (until 1939). History Oil springs along the Ukhta River were already known in the 17th century. In the mid- ...

in the

Komi ASSR The Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), abbreviated as Komi ASSR (Komi and ), was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union, established in 1936 as successor of Komi-Zyryan Autonomous Oblast. In 1991, it b ...

. He was reported to have died in Mongolia in 1948.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batkhaan, Erdene 1888 births 1948 deaths Academics from the Russian Empire Mongolian academics Mongolian people imprisoned abroad Buryat politicians