Pável Gerásimovich Poltorátskiy (c. 1888,

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

– 21 July 1918) () was a

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, ...

revolutionary. He served as People's Commissar for Labor in the early

Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic The Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Turkmenistan, the Turkmen SSR, TuSSR, Turkmenistan, or Turkmenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union located in Central Asia existed as a republic from 1925 to 199 ...

and as editor of the daily newspaper ''Sovetskiy Turkmenistan''. Poltoratskiy worked as a

typesetter Typesetting is the composition of Written language, text for publication, display, or distribution by means of arranging metal type, physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing ''char ...

. He became active as a revolutionary in

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

and

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, but was imprisoned in 1913. In 1917 he became chairman of the Soviet established in Kogon, Uzbekistan. He was sent as a delegate to the First All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies' Soviets. According to another source, he was also a railroad worker.

Career

Poltoratskiy traveled from

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

Merv Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium& ...

, arriving 13 July 1918, leading a small group of revolutionaries. He was soon taken captive by the

Transcaspian Government The Transcaspian Government (1918 - July 1919) was a "Menshevik-Socialist Revolutionary" coalition set up by the railway workers of the Trans-Caspian Railway in 1918. It was based at Ashgabat, Transcaspian Oblast. Origin Autonomous sentiments we ...

which had recently been formed by

Mensheviks The Mensheviks ('the Minority') were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903. Mensheviks held more moderate and reformist ...

and

Socialist Revolutionaries The Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR; ,, ) was a major socialist political party in the late Russian Empire, during both phases of the Russian Revolution, and in early Soviet Russia. The party members were known as Esers (). The SRs were agr ...

. He was executed by firing squad near a brickyard in

on 21 July 1918.

Legacy

From 17 July 1919 until 27 October 1927 the capital city of

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

Ashgabat Ashgabat (Turkmen language, Turkmen: ''Aşgabat'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Turkmenistan. It lies between the Karakum Desert and the Kopet Dag, Kopetdag mountain range in Central Asia, approximately 50 km (30 ...

, was named Poltoratsk in his honor.

References

1918 deaths Asian newspaper editors Executed revolutionaries Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Old Bolsheviks People executed by firing squad Russian revolutionaries Turkmenistan communists Year of birth uncertain {{Turkmenistan-politician-stub