Mikhail Mikhailovich Lashevich (; 1884 – 30 August 1928), also known under the name ''Gaskovich'',
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 ...
military and party leader.
Lashevich was born as Moisey Gaskovich into a Jewish merchant family in Odessa. He joined the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...
in 1901 and after the split of 1903 adhered with the
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...
faction.
["Lashevich Mikhail Mikhailovich"](_blank)
He was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War and was twice wounded. After the
February Revolution of 1917, he went to St. Petersburg, where he opposed the decision of
Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
to launch the Bolshevik revolution.

After the
October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, however, he held various higher military, party and governmental posts.
[ As a senior ]commissar
Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...
in 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 ...
he took part in the defeat of Yudenich, Denikin and Kolchak. He was appointed with Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...
to the Revolutionary Military Council in 1923, and the same year was elected to the Party's Central Committee. Lashevich was Deputy Commissar for War in 1925–26.
Once Joseph 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 ...
started to rise to power, Lashevich sided with Leon Trotsky
Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...
. As a result, he was removed from central posts and sent to Harbin
Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...
to serve as acting manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway on 14 April 1926. In 1927, at the 15th Congress of the VKP(b), he was expelled from the Party, together with other Trotskyists. In 1928, after he recanted his opposition, his party membership was restored.[
In August 1928, he was reported to have been arrested by Chinese authorities in connection with the Barga uprising at ]Hulunbuir
Hulunbuir or Hulun Buir, ''Hūlúnbèi'ěr''; , ''Khulunbuir'' is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. Its administrative center is located at Hailar District, its largest urban area. Major scenic features are the high ...
, which was led by the Inner Mongolian politician Merse.
According to official sources, Lashevich died from gangrene in Harbin on 30 August 1928. Some other sources claim that he was either killed in a car accident or had committed suicide. His funeral took place in Leningrad.[''Протасов Л. Г.'' Люди Учредительного собрания: портрет в интерьере эпохи. — М.: РОССПЭН, 2008.]
He is remembered by a plaque at the Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution on the Field of Mars in St Petersburg.
References
1884 births
1928 suicides
Old Bolsheviks
Soviet Jews in the military
Members of the Central Committee of the 7th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Members of the Central Committee of the 12th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Members of the Central Committee of the 13th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Candidates of the Central Committee of the 14th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
Burials on the Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)
People who died by suicide in prison custody
1928 deaths
Suicides in China
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
Russian Constituent Assembly members
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