Samuil Khaimovich Agurskii (; ; 29 April 1884 – 19 May 1947) was a Belarusian Bundist and later

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

politician and historian.

Early life and life in emigration

Samuil Khaimovich Agurskii was born in

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

on 29 April 1884. He joined the

General Jewish Labour Bund The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia (), generally called The Bund (, cognate to , ) or the Jewish Labour Bund (), was a Jewish secularism, secular Jewish Socialism, socialist party initially formed in the Russian Empire ...

following the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, and subsequently lived in England and the United States between 1906 and 1917. In America, he was active in anarchism and the Yiddish press.

Return to Belarus

He was Jewish commissar of

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

between 1918 and 1919. He moved to Moscow, but visited the United States twice in the next four years, helping to found the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

. In the mid- and late-1920s, he compiled historical documents on the history of the Jewish labor movement in the

Communist Party of Byelorussia Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, ...

, into which the General Jewish Labour Bund had merged in the early 1920s. This, along with Agurskii's critical history of

Konstanty Kalinowski Konstanty Kalinowski, or Wincenty Konstanty Kalinowski ( – ), was a Polish-Belarusian writer, journalist, lawyer and revolutionary. He was one of the leaders of the 1863 January Uprising on the lands of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwea ...

and the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

served as a criticism of the

Belarusian Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB; ; , , ) is the national academy of Belarus. History Inbelkult - predecessor to the Academy The Academy has its origins in the Institute of Belarusian Culture (Inbelkult), a Belarusian acade ...

and its policies which supported

Belarusization Belarusization () was a policy of protection and advancement of the Belarusian language and recruitment and promotion of Belarusian nationalists within the government of the Belarusian SSR (BSSR) and the Belarusian Communist Party, conducted by ...

. Agurskii's critiques were supported by First Secretary of the CPB Yan Gamarnik, who applauded Agurskii's efforts to combat nationalism. They later served as the basis for the removal of

Usievalad Ihnatoŭski Usievalad Makaravich Ihnatoŭski (; ; 19 April 1881 — 4 February 1931) was a Belarusian politician, scholar and the first president of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Early years Ihnatoŭski, the son of a teacher, was born in t ...

as head of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences and his persecution as part of the

Case of the Union of Liberation of Belarus The Case of the Union of Liberation of Belarus () was a political and criminal case initiated by the GPU of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic against several Belarusian scientists and culture activists. The case formed part of a wave of S ...

, who eventually died under disputed circumstances.

Exile and death

In the late 1930s, amidst 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 ...

, the Communist Party of Byelorussia accused Agurskii of idealizing the Bund and subverting the Belarusian Academy of Sciences. Sentenced to exile in Kazakhstan, he died in the city of

Pavlodar Pavlodar (; ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located northeast of the national capital Astana and southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. In 2010, the city had a popul ...

on 19 May 1947. He was posthumously rehabilitated on 7 April 1956.

Early life and life in emigration

Return to Belarus

Exile and death

References

Further reading