Kazimierz Cichowski (Russian: ''Казимир Генрихович Циховский'') (7 December 1887 – 26 October 1937) was a Polish-Soviet communist activist and politician,

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

revolutionary and

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

. Along with

Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas Vincas Mickevičius (Polish spelling: Mickiewicz), known under his pen name ''Kapsukas'' ( – 17 February 1935), was a Lithuanian Communism, communist political activist, Opinion journalism, publicist and revolutionary. As an active member of ...

, he played an important role in establishing the

Soviet regime The political system of the Soviet Union took place in a federal single-party soviet socialist republic framework which was characterized by the superior role of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), the only party permitted by the Co ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

and the Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

Biography

Cichowski was born in

Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski (), often referred to as Ostrowiec, is a city in southeastern Poland, in the historical region of Lesser Poland, with 66,258 residents (as of 2021). The town is one of historic centers of Polish industry and metallurgy, ...

. He joined the

Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania The Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania ( pl, Socjaldemokracja Królestwa Polskiego i Litwy, SDKPiL), , LKLSD), originally the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland (SDKP), was a Marxist political party founded in 1893 and ...

in 1907. In 1907–1909 he studied at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

, and in 1910–1913 at

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University (french: Sorbonne Université; la Sorbonne: 'the Sorbonne') is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon ...

. During the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, he joined the

party and from November 1917 he was the deputy Commissar for Polish affairs of the Central Executive Committee of the Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (LitBel), where he soon advanced to more prominent positions (Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Congress of Soviets). Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...

, Cichowski became a deputy People's Commissar of Nationalities for Polish affairs within the Russian

Sovnarkom The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

in December 1917. In September 1918, he became a member of the Central Committee of

Communist Party of Lithuania The Communist Party of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos komunistų partija; russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы) is a banned communist party in Lithuania. The party was established in early October 1918 and operated clan ...

. In 1919 Cichowski was a member of the Lithuanian Provisional

Revkom {{no footnotes, date=May 2016A revolutionary committee or revkom (russian: Революционный комитет, ревком) were Bolshevik-led organizations in Soviet Russia and other Soviet republics established to serve as provisional gove ...

led by

. Cichowski also was a chairman of the Vilnius City council and a teacher at the Vilnius Communist School. From 27 February 1919 to 31 July 1920, Cichowski served as a chairman of Central Executive Committee of the Lithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. During that time he also was a member of the Central Committee of

Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Lithuania and Belorussia The Communist Party of Lithuania and Belorussia, abbreviated КП ЛіБ, lt, Lietuvos ir Baltarusijos Komunistų partiją, abbreviated LBKP, russian: Коммунистическая партия Литвы и Белоруссии, abbreviated К ...

, People's Commissar of Agriculture (May–July), and member of Defense Council of LitBel. In July–September 1919, possibly under surname of Tikhovskiy, he was a chairman the Minsk city executive committee (

ispolkom The Executive Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, commonly known as the Ispolkom (russian: исполком, исполнительный комитет, literally " executive committee") was a self-appointed executive committee of the Petrograd So ...

), which serves as a city governor in Belarus.City governors (since 1879) (РУКОВОДИТЕЛИ ГОРОДА (С 1879 ГОДА))
Minsk City Executive Committee.Tsikhovskiy Kazimir Genrikhovich (Циховский Казимир Генрихович)
.

Handbook on history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union 1898–1991 A handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide ready reference. The term originally applied to a small or portable book containing information useful for its owner, but the ''Oxford Engl ...

. As the Soviet government was "losing grip" on Lithuania during the 1919–20

Lithuanian–Soviet War The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War ( lt, karas su bolševikais) was fought between newly independent Lithuania and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the la ...

, in 1919 Cichowski joined the Russian Bolsheviks

Smolensk Governorate Smolensk Governorate (russian: Смоленская губерния, Smolenskaja gubernija), or the Government of Smolensk, was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It ex ...

Committee becoming a member of the Russian Western Front Political detachment (Politotdel, politruk) and editing the newspaper ''Kommunist''. After the end of the

in 1920 (see

Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty, also known as the Moscow Peace Treaty, was signed between Lithuania and Soviet Russia on July 12, 1920. In exchange for Lithuania's neutrality and permission to move its troops in the territory that was reco ...

), which saw the dissolution of LitBel, he became a member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the

Communist Party of Western Ukraine Communist Party of Western Ukraine (; uk, Комуністична партія Західної України) was a political party in eastern interwar Poland. Until 1923 it was known as the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia (Komunistyczna Par ...

, operating in the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of ...

. In 1923 Cichowski was given a three-year prison term by the Polish authorities; he was released in 1925 and joined the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Poland The interwar Communist Party of Poland ( pl, Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) was a communist party active in Poland during the Second Polish Republic. It resulted from a December 1918 merger of the Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland a ...

, becoming a member of its secretariat and the Political Bureau. In 1927–1929 he was a secretary of communist faction in the

Polish Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

. In 1929 Cichowski was arrested again and in 1930 convicted to 8 years in jail. In 1932 he was exchanged. In September 1932, he returned to the

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 ...

where he began working in the

Comintern The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet Union, Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to ...

(ECCI) at its

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

around January–July 1937, he was in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

where he was head of the Cadres Department of the

International Brigades The International Brigades ( es, Brigadas Internacionales) were military units set up by the Communist International to assist the Popular Front government of the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War. The organization existed f ...

headquarters. In August 1937, Cichowski was recalled to Moscow, arrested in October or 21 August 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 ...

, convicted and shot.

References

External links

POLAND: Sectarians & Revisionists
''Time'' magazine, 18 March 1957. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cichowski, Kazimierz 1887 births 1937 deaths People from Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski People from Radom Governorate Polish nobility University of Liège alumni Social Democracy of the Kingdom of Poland and Lithuania politicians Bolsheviks Communist Party of Western Ukraine members Communist Party of Poland politicians Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (1918–19) people Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic people Prisoners and detainees of Poland Polish emigrants to the Soviet Union Polish Comintern people International Brigades personnel Polish people of the Spanish Civil War Polish Operation of the NKVD Prisoners and detainees of the Soviet Union Polish people executed by the Soviet Union Executed people from Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship Great Purge victims from Poland Soviet rehabilitations