Yukhym Hryhorovych Medvediev (, ; 1 April 1886 – 7 June 1938) was a Ukrainian

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 and the first elected chairman of the

parliament in Ukraine. Medvediev was a member of various Communist parties, but in early 1930s quit his political life and committed himself to a civilian life. In January 1938 he was arrested by the State Security police and later that year shot on the grounds of being an anti-Soviet terrorist. In 1957 Medvedev was rehabilitated posthumously.

Biography

Medvediev was born in Bakhmut city of

Yekaterinoslav Governorate Yekaterinoslav Governorate} was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yekaterinoslav. Covering an area of , and being composed of a inhabitant of 2,113,674 by the census of 1897, it bordere ...

(Now in

Donetsk Oblast Donetsk Oblast, also referred to as Donechchyna (, ), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast in eastern Ukraine. It is Ukraine's most populous province, with around 4.1 million residents. Its capital city, administrative centre is Donetsk, though d ...

, Eastern Ukraine) in a family of Ukrainian ethnicity. After finishing the Bakhmut Technological College he worked as an electrical technician at factories of Bakhmut and Yekaterinoslav. In 1904 Medvediev enrolled into 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), but in 1917 he became a member of the Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party. The same year he initiated the organization of the Kharkiv Ukrainian left social-democrats which cooperated with 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, ...

. In December 1917 Medvediev became one of the organizers of the '' 1st All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets of Peasants', Workers', and Soldiers' Deputies'' in

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

. The congress formed 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 ...

, the chairman of which Medvediev was elected on December 24, 1917. The committee supported the Bolsheviks' intentions on the liquidation of the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) was a short-lived state in Eastern Europe. Prior to its proclamation, the Central Council of Ukraine was elected in March 1917 Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, as a result of the February Revolution, ...

. In January–February 1918 he headed the Soviet Ukrainian delegation to the Brest's negotiations. Medvediev was dismissed as the chairman of TsVK in March 1918 and with withdrawal of the Soviet forces from Ukraine moved to

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 ...

. There he was a member of the Bureau of Ukrainian left social-democrats in exile. After the Russian aggression on Ukraine in August 1919 Medvediev joined Borotbists, however already in July 1920 the party has self-liquidated at its 4th Party Congress and most of its members joined the ranks of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine. At the start of 1930s Medevediev has fully quit the political life and lived in the capital city of Kharkiv where he worked at numerous locations. On 27 January 1938 he was arrested for alleged membership of a military-terrorist organization and anti-Soviet activity. He was sentenced to death on 11 May and shot on 7 June 1938. Posthumously rehabilitated on 22 November 1957.

References

Bibliography

Fedorovsky, Yu. ''Our countryman – the first Soviet president''. "Bratia-slavyane" #16. May 2010.

External links

Handbook of history of UkraineHandbook on history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union
{{DEFAULTSORT:Medvediev, Yukhym 1886 births 1938 deaths People from Bakhmut People from Bakhmutsky Uyezd Mensheviks Ukrainian Social Democratic Labour Party politicians Borotbists Bolsheviks Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians Chairmen of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee Great Purge victims from Ukraine Soviet rehabilitations