Volodymyr Petrovych Zatonsky (; July 27, 1888 – July 29, 1938) 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 ...

politician, academic, Communist Party activist, full member of the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

Academy of Sciences (from 1929) and

Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union was the highest scientific institution of the Soviet Union from 1925 to 1991. It united the country's leading scientists and was subordinated directly to the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union (un ...

(from 1936).

Early life

Zatonsky was born in the village of Lysets in of Ushitsy (Ushytsia)

Uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd or uiezd; rus, уе́зд ( pre-1918: уѣздъ), p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context () was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, the R ...

Podolia Governorate Podolia Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Southwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. It bordered Volhynian Governorate to the north, Kiev Governorate to the east, Kherson Governorate to the southeast, Bessar ...

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 ...

(now in Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion,

Khmelnytskyi Oblast Khmelnytskyi Oblast (), also known as Khmelnychchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in western Ukraine covering portions of the historical regions of western Podolia and southern Volhynia. The Capital (political) ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

) into the family of a

volost Volost (; ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the Russian Empire. History The '' Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'' (1890–1907) states that the origins of the concept is unc ...

pysar.

Political career

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 ...

(RSDLP) party as a

Menshevik 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 ...

in 1905. In March 1917 he joined the

Bolsheviks 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, ...

as the member of the Kyiv Committee, later joining the Kyiv revkom as well. He was one of few who initiated the organization of the Congress of the Workers-Peasants and Soldiers deputies as well as the military coup in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. Zatonsky participated in the fight against the Central Rada. When 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 ...

took over Kyiv in 1918 after 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 ...

, Zatonsky recalled that he only narrowly escaped execution as a

counterrevolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

when only

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 ...

's mandate saved his life. At the beginning of 1918 he was the Head of the Ukrainian delegation from the

Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets The Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets (; ) was a short-lived (1917–1918) Soviet republic of the Russian SFSR that was created by the declaration of the Kharkiv All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets "About the self-determination of Ukraine" ...

for the Brest-Litovsk Peace Conference. From March 19 to April 18, 1918, he was Chairman of the

All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee () was a representative body of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. It was the supreme legislative, administrative, executive controlling state power of Soviet Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) between the sessi ...

. In July 1918 he was a

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 ...

of a strike force against the Left Socialist-Revolutionary rebellion in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. Beginning in November 1918 he was the

Narkom A People's Commissariat (; Narkomat) was a structure in the Soviet state (in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, in other union and autonomous republics, in the Soviet Union) from 1917–1946 which functioned as the central executive ...

of People's Education. While in that post he did everything in his power to shut down the Kamyanets-Podilsky State University as the concentration of the

counter-revolutionary A counter-revolutionary or an anti-revolutionary is anyone who opposes or resists a revolution, particularly one who acts after a revolution has occurred, in order to try to overturn it or reverse its course, in full or in part. The adjective "c ...

forces of Symon Petliura. From 1968 to 1997 the institute was named after Zatonsky. He personally was offered a position by Lenin as a representative of the Soviet Ukrainian People's Republic in the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

. On November 17–30, 1918, Zatonsky, Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko and

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 ...

became members of the Revolutionary Military Council (RMC) of the Special Group of Kursk Troops. The RMC developed a military-strategic plan for the liberation of Ukraine, and began to staff the front with troops. The headquarters of the formation was located in Kursk. From November 30, 1918, Zatonsky was a member of the RMC of the Ukrainian Soviet Army.Ратьковский И., Ходяков М. История Советской России. Глава 1. V. Боевые действия в конце 1918 — начале 1919 гг. Выведен из состава кандидатов в члены ЦК на Январском пленуме ЦК 1938 года, уже после ареста. In 1920 he was chairman of Galrevkom. In 1921 he received 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 ...

for the suppression of the Kronshtadt mutiny. Afterwards he held various government and Party positions in the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. In 1922 he was one of the persons who signed for the establishment of the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

as the representative of the Ukrainian SSR. In September 1933 Zatonsky was appointed as chief editor of the

Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia'' () was a multi-purpose encyclopedia of Ukraine, issued in the USSR. First attempt Following the publication of the first volume of the in Lviv, then in Poland, in 1930, the ''Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia ...

Arrest and death

On November 3, 1937, he was arrested in a movie theater while he was with his family. Later the authorities conducted an unsanctioned search of his apartment searching for a proof of him being a spy for "

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. After several days his wife was arrested as well. He was charged with being a member of an anti-Soviet "". On July 29, 1938, he was convicted after a 20-minute-long trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison without right of correspondence. During 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 ...

this was a

euphemism A euphemism ( ) is when an expression that could offend or imply something unpleasant is replaced with one that is agreeable or inoffensive. Some euphemisms are intended to amuse, while others use bland, inoffensive terms for concepts that the u ...

for a

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

, and the same day he was executed by

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

. In 1956 Zatonsky, along with many others, was posthumously rehabilitated.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zatonsky, Volodymyr 1888 births 1938 deaths People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast People from Ushitsky Uyezd Mensheviks Old Bolsheviks Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Ukrainian communists Ukrainian diplomats Ukrainian revolutionaries Candidates of the Central Committee of the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) members Chairmen of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee Education ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet foreign ministers of Ukraine People of the Russian Revolution Soviet people of the Ukrainian–Soviet War Soviet rehabilitations Great Purge victims from Ukraine Full Members of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences Deputies to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly