The Erzya-Moksha Autonomy myv, Эрзя-Мокшонь Автономной область, mdf, Эрзя-Мокшень Автономнай область, russian: Эрзя-Мокшанская Автономная область was a name of an administrative division of the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

approved by Executive Committee of Erzya-Moksha Autonomous oblast before July 16, 1928. The Executive Committee name didn't change till 1930. The conventional name of the Oblast was changed to Mordvin Okrug on July 16, 1928. The administrative centre first was planned to be the oldest Oblast city Temnikov but it was established in

Saransk Saransk (russian: Саранск, p=sɐˈransk; mdf, Саранск ошсь, Saransk oš; myv, Саран ош, Saran oš) is the capital city of the Republic of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic centre. It is located i ...

because of the railroad absence in Temnikov.

History

The Erzya-Moksha Autonomy was approved in 1928 as Mordvin Okrug according to personal approval of

Josef Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, who attended the meeting of the Executive Committee. Deputy president of Supreme Court of

Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...

Vasily Martyshkin quotes Stalin and . Since Mokshas and Erzyas lived sparcely in many governorates of former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

Stalin believed it was impossible to establish many autonomous districts. That was Mikifor Surdin, ethnic Moksha who proposed to establish not Erzya-Moksha Autonomy, but a Mordvin okrug. Since most members of the Executive Committee were neither ethnic

Erzyas Erzyas or Erzya people ( myv, Эрзят, ''Erźat'') are one of the Mordvin peoples. Famous people of Erzya descent * Purgaz * Stepan Erzia, Russian sculptor * Nadezhda Kadysheva, Russian singer * Vasily Chapayev, Bolshevik commander * Valeri ...

nor

Mokshas The Mokshas (also ''Mokshans'', ''Moksha people'', in ) comprise a Mordvinian ethnic group belonging to the Volgaic branch of the Finno-Ugric peoples. They live in the Russian Federation, mostly near the Volga River and the Moksha River, a tri ...

and did not understand Russian well, Surdin said that using ''Mordva'' as ethnonym would be more understandable since they are not supposed to hear about Erzya or Moksha ethnic groups. Stalin liked this variant. The Erzya-Moksha Autonomous oblast lost its ethnic (Rus. ''national'') status and been renamed to Mordvin Okrug. Mikifor Surdin has been being cursed till now for that, in spite of the fact he was executed during the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

. That was the time when the autonomy name changed to ''Mordvin''. Only "ethnonym" ''Mordvin'' was allowed in documents for Erzya and Moksha since then. Okrug was established in the area populated mainly by

and

as a part on July 16, 1928. On October 20, 1929, the Okrug was included into . On January 19, 1930, Okrug transformed into .

Administrative division

The Okrug was divided into 23 districts:

References

Sources

*
Republic of Mordovia

80 years anniversary of the Erzya-Moksha Autonomy
{{Coord missing, Russia Autonomous oblasts of the Soviet Union States and territories established in 1928 Oblasts of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic 1928 establishments in the Soviet Union

History

Administrative division

See also

References

Sources