Vyacheslav Ivanovich Zof (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Вячеслав Иванович Зоф; 6 January 1890 – 20 June 1937) 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 figure and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

descent.

Biography

Zof joined the

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

movement in 1910. Three years later he became a member of 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). During

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 ...

, Zof worked as a fitter at an arms factory in

Sestroretsk Sestroretsk (; ; ) is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the Sestra River and the Sestroretskiy Lake northwest of St. Petersburg. Po ...

, where he was in charge of the

Bolshevist The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the Second Party Congress in 1903. The Bolshevik party, formally established in 19 ...

underground. After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in 1917, Zof led 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, ...

' organization in Sestroretsk and was a deputy of the

Petrograd Soviet The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies (, ''Petrogradsky soviet rabochih i soldatskikh deputatov'') was a city council of Petrograd (Saint Petersburg), the capital of Russia at the time. For brevity, it is usually called the Pet ...

. In July 1917, he prepared fake identity papers for

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 ...

and organized his move from Petrograd to Razliv at the request of the RSDLP Central Committee. Zof would then establish contact between Lenin and the Central Committee. Vyacheslav Zof

In 1918–1919, he was appointed brigade and division

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 ...

and supplies manager for the 3rd Army of the Eastern Front. In 1919–1920, Zof was a member of the

Revolutionary Military Council The Revolutionary Military Council (), sometimes called the Revolutionary War Council Brian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Raskolnikov s "Tales of Sub-lieutenant Ilyin." or ''Revvoyensoviet'' (), was the supreme military authority of Soviet Rus ...

of the

Baltic Fleet The Baltic Fleet () is the Naval fleet, fleet of the Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea. Established 18 May 1703, under Tsar Peter the Great as part of the Imperial Russian Navy, the Baltic Fleet is the oldest Russian fleet. In 1918, the fleet w ...

and a member of the Petrograd defense committee. In 1921–1924, he held a post of a commissar at the office of the commander-in-chief of the

naval forces A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operati ...

of the Republic. Between December 1924 and 1926, Zof was the

commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank as well as a job title in many army, armies. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countri ...

of the naval forces and member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. In 1927–1929, he headed the

Sovtorgflot Sovtorgflot (, "Soviet Commercial Fleet") was a shipping company in the Soviet Union. It was established as a joint-stock company on July 18, 1924. It united ships which belonged to different '' narkomats'' and companies, including the ones with fo ...

(Soviet Commercial Fleet) office. In 1930–1931, Zof was a deputy

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English language, English transliteration of the Russian language, Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the pol ...

Railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

Transportation. In 1931, he was appointed first deputy People's Commissar of Water Transportation. Later Zof fell into disgrace and was appointed director of the "Kompresor" factory 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 ...

. In 1937, he was arrested and sentenced to death by the

Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union () was created in 1924 by the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union as a court for the higher military and political personnel of the Red Army and Fleet. In addition it was an immed ...

on June 19 on accounts of being involved in an "anti-Soviet terrorist organisation". Zof was executed the next day. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1956.

Awards

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 ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zof, Vyacheslav Ivanovich 1890 births 1937 deaths People from Dubno People from Volhynian Governorate Old Bolsheviks Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Soviet politicians Soviet Navy officers People of the Russian Revolution Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Great Purge victims from Ukraine Soviet rehabilitations People from the Russian Empire of Czech descent Ukrainian people of Czech descent Soviet people of Czech descent