Yakov Abramovich Popok (1894–1938) served as the fifth first secretary of the Communist Party of the Turkmen SSR. His term began in August 1930, replacing Grigory Aronshtam. He fell ill in early 1937, causing him to resign on 15 April. He was removed from office, then executed the following year in 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 ...

. Deputy Secretary Anna Muhamedow held his position temporarily, until a replacement, Yakov Chubin, was selected; Muhamedow was also purged and executed in 1938 in the Great Purge. Both Popok and Muhamedow were rehabilitated in the years following Stalin's death.

Biography

Popov was born in

Khislavichi Khislavichi (, ''Khoslovitz'') is an types of inhabited localities in Russia, urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Khislavichsky District of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located by the right bank of the Sozh River ...

, Mstislavl district, Mogilev province (now Smolensk region) into a bourgeois family. He worked as a laborer and office worker in

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, Yekaterinoslav,

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

, Yelets, and

Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. 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 ...

in 1909. He was arrested twice, was in exile from 1911 to 1914, then werved in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

from 1915 to 1917, during which he conducted revolutionary agitation among his fellow soldiers. From November 1917 to July 1918 he was the head of the fuel department of the Moscow executive committee. In November 1918 he served as head of the Yekaterinoslav provincial labor department, as part of the People's Commissariat of Labor of Ukraine. From 1919 to February 1921 he served in 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 ...

, where he was head of the political department for several military groupings. He took part in battles on the Eastern and Southern fronts of the Civil War. From 1921 to 1922 he was head of the organizational department of the

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

provincial committee of the RCP(b) and chairman of the Pskov and

Bryansk Bryansk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Bryansk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Desna (river), Desna River, southwest of Moscow. It has a population of 379,152 at the 2021 census. Bryans ...

provincial trade union councils. In 1924 he graduated from the Marxism Courses at the Communist Academy,

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 ...

. Popok held a number of posts across

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

during the next fourteen years, from

Zlatoust Zlatoust (; ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Ay River (in the Kama River, Kama drainage basin, basin), west of Chelyabinsk. Population: 181,000 (1971); 161,000 (1959); 99,000 ...

in the south to

Amur The Amur River () or Heilong River ( zh, s=黑龙江) is a perennial river in Northeast Asia, forming the natural border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China (historically the Outer Manchuria, Outer and Inner Manchuria). The Amur ...

and Chita in the east. From 1930 to 1937 he was First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan, then briefly First Secretary of the Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of the

Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), abbreviated as the Volga German ASSR, was an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, autonomous republic of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR. Its capital c ...

for part of 1937 and 1938. He also served as a member of the All-Union Central Executive Committee and the Central Executive Committee of the USSR for this period. He was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1935. On April 21, 1938, by decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), he was removed from office and recalled to the disposal of the Central Committee. He was soon (possibly on the same day) arrested, then shot on July 28, 1938. He was posthumously rehabilitated in the years following Stalin's death.

References

Rulers of Soviet Republics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popok, Yakov 1894 births 1938 deaths People from Smolensk Oblast People from Mstislavsky Uyezd Party leaders of the Soviet Union Communist Party of Turkmenistan politicians Sverdlov Communist University alumni Recipients of the Order of Lenin Jews from the Russian Empire Soviet Jews Jewish Russian politicians Soviet rehabilitations Jewish socialists First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union People executed by the Soviet Union by firearm Great Purge victims from Russia Jews executed by the Soviet Union Executed people from Smolensk Oblast Members of the Central Auditing Commission of the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)