Solomon Grigorevich Mogilevsky (; 1885 – March 22, 1925) headed the

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 ...

foreign intelligence service, the ''INO'' of the

GPU A graphics processing unit (GPU) is a specialized electronic circuit designed for digital image processing and to accelerate computer graphics, being present either as a discrete video card or embedded on motherboards, mobile phones, personal ...

, from 1921 until May 1922. He was then sent to head the GPU in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and West Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Armenia, ...

region, where he was involved in the suppression of the 1924

August Uprising The August Uprising ( ka, აგვისტოს აჯანყება, tr) was an unsuccessful insurrection against Soviet rule in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic from late August to early September 1924. Aimed at restoring the ...

in the

Georgian SSR The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, also known as Soviet Georgia, the Georgian SSR, or simply Georgia, was one of the republics of the Soviet Union from its second occupation (by the Red Army) in 1921 to its independence in 1991. Cotermin ...

. He died in a plane crash near

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

(Tbilisi) in unclear circumstances.

Biography

Mogilevsky was born to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents in

Pavlograd Pavlohrad (, ) is a city in eastern Ukraine, located within Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. It serves as the administrative center of Pavlohrad Raion. Its population is approximately The rivers of Vovcha (runs through the city towards the Samara Rive ...

. In 1903 he joined the

RSDRP 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 ...

and was arrested in 1904. In 1906 he left

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for

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where he met

Vladimir 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 ...

, who recommended him to be admitted into Bolshevik section of the party. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he returned to Russia and was a soldier on the front. Mogilevsky participated in the 1917

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 ...

. During the Russian Civil War he was appointed to various positions in the

. Since May 1922 Mogilevsky headed the Caucausian GPU and was responsible for intelligence in Iran and Turkey. He participated in the quelling of the August Uprising in the Georgian SSR. Mogilevsky was decorated with the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

in 1924 for his outstanding activities in the suppression of the uprising.

Death

Mogilevsky died in a plane crash in 1925 headed to a conference in

Sukhumi Sukhumi or Sokhumi is a city in a wide bay on the Black Sea's eastern coast. It is both the Capital city, capital and largest city of Abkhazia, a partially recognised state that most countries consider a part of Georgia (country), Georgia. The ...

. The plane, which also carried two other high-ranking Soviet security officials ( Georgi Atarbekov and Aleksandr Myasnikyan), blew up in mid-air not far from Tiflis. The cause of the crash was never determined, despite the fact that three separate commissions later investigated the incident. There has always been a strong suspicion that the young Georgian airman Ambako Sagaradze, who was piloting the plane, crashed deliberately, killing himself and his passengers. Another version linked

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 ...

and

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria ka, ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია} ''Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria'' ( – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician and one of the longest-serving and most influential of Joseph ...

with Mogilevsky's death. Some alleged Beria arranged the catastrophe on Stalin's behalf. Others suspected Beria had his own motives for doing so and wanted to get rid of Mogilevsky in order to secure a succession to his post.Knight, Amy W. (1993), ''Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant'', p. 35.

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mogilevsky, Solomon 1885 births 1925 deaths Russian military personnel of World War I NKVD officers Jews from the Russian Empire Soviet Jews Jewish socialists Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in the Soviet Union Old Bolsheviks Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1925 Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Georgia (country)