Alexander Yakovlevich Shumsky or Oleksandr Yakovych Shumskyi ( uk, Олександр Якович Шумський, russian: Александр Яковлевич Шумский; 2 December 1890 – 18 September 1946) was a Ukrainian communist and activist. He was one of the leaders of the
national communism
National communism represents various forms in which Marxism–Leninism and socialism has been adopted and/or implemented by leaders in different countries using aspects of nationalism or national identity to form a policy independent from comm ...
movement in Ukraine and actively supported
Ukrainization
Ukrainization (also spelled Ukrainisation), sometimes referred to as Ukrainianization (or Ukrainianisation) is a policy or practice of increasing the usage and facilitating the development of the Ukrainian language and promoting other elements of ...
. He was one of the victims of the
Stalinist
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...
regime, being arrested and killed by the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
in 1946. He was rehabilitated in 1958, during the period of
De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
.
Biography
Early life and 1905 Revolution
Shumsky was born in the village of Turchynka,
Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate or Volyn Governorate (russian: Волы́нская губе́рния, translit=Volynskaja gubernija, uk, Волинська губернія, translit=Volynska huberniia) was an administrative-territorial unit initially ...
(today
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast ( uk, Жито́мирська о́бласть, translit=Zhytomyrska oblast), also referred to as Zhytomyrshchyna ( uk, Жито́мирщина}) is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the obla ...
) in a family of
forester
A forester is a person who practises forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Foresters manage forests to ...
s.Papakin, H. Alexander Shumsky (ШУМСЬКИЙ ОЛЕКСАНДР ЯКОВИЧ) '. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. The State Archives of Zhytomyr Oblast identify his parents as Yakiv Danylovych and Yeva.
Shumsky himself wrote that he was born in a family of "batrak" (poor farmer-serfs).Yuriy Shapoval. His mysteries (Його таємниці) '. Newspaper "Den". 19 November 2010Alexander Shumsky (Александр Яковлевич Шумский) Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University. Yuriy Shapoval indicates that Shumnsky was not fully truthful about his origins, possibly due to the practice of characterising oneself in early Soviet history as coming from the lower class. In reality Shumsky's father Yakiv Danylovych, who worked as a forester for the landowner Mikhail Muravyov, had noble origins. Shumsky's grandfather Danylo Yakovych was a second generation priest, who had been assigned to the village of Turchynka in 1862.
He finished school in 1906, either at a village school or a two-year church parish school. After school, he worked at a sawmill and from 1908 as a land surveyor's assistant in the land reclamation commission.
In 1908 he joined the workers' movement and the Ukrainian Social Democratic League ("Spilka"). In 1909 he participated in a strike at a local sawmill.
In 1911 Shumsky began night school at the Shanyavsky Moscow People's University, but never finished. During that period he participated in the Ukrainian socialist club in Moscow and later became a member of the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (UPSR).. In 1915 he received the certificate of
matura
or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...
through expedited testing and enrolled in the Moscow veterinary school, but his studies were interrupted by
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
after he was arrested for spreading "revolutionary literature" and sent to serve military duty at the
South Western Front
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
.
Ukrainian revolution and war with Soviet Russia
At the frontlines Shumsky continued his revolutionary activity. After the 1917
February Revolution
The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...
in Russia, he was elected as a delegate to the soldiers' congress at various levels: corps, army, and front. In April 1917 Shumsky already was in Kyiv, where he became a member of the
Kyiv Governorate
Kiev Governorate, r=Kievskaya guberniya; uk, Київська губернія, Kyivska huberniia (, ) was an administrative division of the Russian Empire from 1796 to 1919 and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919 to 1925. It wa ...
Land Committee in anticipation of upcoming land reform. At the Third Congress of the UPSR in November 1917 he was coopted to the Central Committee of UPSR as one of leaders of the party's left wing. He entered the
Ukrainian Central Council
The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...
, the Ukrainian parliament, on the party list of the UPSR. In the parliament he advocated left radical views on social and agrarian matters similar to those of the Bolsheviks.
In 1918 Shumsky was elected to the
Ukrainian Constituent Assembly
The Ukrainian Constituent Assembly ( uk, Українські Установчі Збори) was a planned All-National Congress which was supposed to confirm the Constitution of the Ukrainian People's Republic and establish a new political syst ...
from the
Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate or Volyn Governorate (russian: Волы́нская губе́рния, translit=Volynskaja gubernija, uk, Волинська губернія, translit=Volynska huberniia) was an administrative-territorial unit initially ...
. He also became one of authors of the law relating to land adopted by the
Ukrainian Central Council
The Central Council of Ukraine ( uk, Українська Центральна Рада, ) (also called the Tsentralna Rada or the Central Rada) was the All-Ukrainian council (soviet) that united deputies of soldiers, workers, and peasants deputie ...
on 18 January 1918.
On Shumsky was arrested after he, with a group of left Ukrainian SRs and Social-Democrats, attempted a coup d'état to dissolve the parliament (see
January Uprising
The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...
), but was freed by advancing Red Russian detachments of Muravyov's troops which eventually sacked Kyiv.
At the Fourth Congress of UPSR in May 1918, after his active support, the party's left wing announced liquidation of the party and transferring it underground. Shumsky defended this strategy in order to pursue the struggle against
Hetman
( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders.
Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...
Pavlo Skoropadskyi
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi ( uk, Павло Петрович Скоропадський, Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi; – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian aristocrat, military and state leader, decorated Imperial Russian Army and Ukrainian Army ...
, and later the
Direktoria
The Directorate, or Directory () was a provisional collegiate revolutionary state committee of the Ukrainian People's Republic, initially formed on November 13–14, 1918 during a session of the Ukrainian National Union in rebellion against Sk ...
, rapprochement with the Bolsheviks, and establishing a Ukrainian state that was Soviet in its form, but nationalist in its composition.
During 1918 he headed the
Volhynian Governorate
Volhynian Governorate or Volyn Governorate (russian: Волы́нская губе́рния, translit=Volynskaja gubernija, uk, Волинська губернія, translit=Volynska huberniia) was an administrative-territorial unit initially ...
Land Committee, was a member of the UPSR gubernatorial committee, and member of underground revolutionary committee that was preparing an anti-Hetman uprising in Zhytomyr. In the beginning of 1919 after his speech at the Labor Congress of Ukraine, Shumsky was arrested again, sentenced to death, but escaped.
Soviet regime and Russian civil war
From Spring of 1919 to March 1920 Shumsky was a leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party (
Borotbists
The Borotbists (Fighters) (1918–1920) was a left-nationalist political party in Ukraine. It is not be associated with its Russian affiliated counterparts - the Ukrainian Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (Borbysts) and the Ukrainian Commu ...
). His attempt to create a national communist party that would have been associated with the Russian
Bolsheviks
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 ...
through the
Communist International
The Communist International (Comintern), also known as the Third International, was a Soviet-controlled international organization founded in 1919 that advocated world communism. The Comintern resolved at its Second Congress to "struggle by a ...
and become alternative to the Party-Soviet system that was developing failed because of its rejection by the leadership of the RKP(b) and personally by
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
.
Following establishment of 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 ...
in Ukraine, Shumsky was added to collegium of People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic (headed by Hnat Mykhailychenko). Soon in the summer of 1919, after the occupation of Ukraine by the
Armed Forces of South Russia
The Armed Forces of South Russia (AFSR or SRAF) () were the unified military forces of the White movement in southern Russia between 1919 and 1920.
On 8 January 1919, the Armed Forces of South Russia were formed, incorporating the Volunteer Army ...
, he had taken part in underground struggle against the Russian Whites and was a member of the Galician Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) of Ukraine. Under pressure from the Bolsheviks, the Ukrainian Communist Party (Borotbists) was dissolved and in March 1920 Shumsky was added to the Central Committee of the Communist Party (of Bolsheviks) of Ukraine as well as its Political and Organizational bureaus, where he headed the department concerned with rural affairs. In March 1920 he also was added to the
Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),; abbreviated in Russian as or also known by #Name, various other names during its history, was the founding and ruling party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU was the One-party state, sole governing ...
.
In May – June 1920 Shumsky was a governor of the Poltava region, serving as head of Poltava gubernatorial committee and presidium of Poltava gubernatorial executive committee; in July – August 1920 he was a head of the Odessa gubernatorial
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 ...
. In September 1920 Shumsky was in political administration and the
Revolutionary Military Council
The Revolutionary Military Council (russian: Революционный Военный Совет, Revolyutsionny Voyenny Sovyet, Revolutionary Military Council), sometimes called the Revolutionary War CouncilBrian PearceIntroductionto Fyodor Ra ...
Pyotr Wrangel
Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel (russian: Пётр Никола́евич барон Вра́нгель, translit=Pëtr Nikoláevič Vrángel', p=ˈvranɡʲɪlʲ, german: Freiherr Peter Nikolaus von Wrangel; April 25, 1928), also known by his ni ...
, Shumsky was a head of the Kiev gubernatorial revkom and a member of the Soviet delegation at the Riga talks with Poland.
From April 1921 through February 1923 he was plenipotentiary representative of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic to Poland, leaving for Warsaw in October 1921. At that position Shumsky was actively requesting liquidation of Ukrainian emigrant organizations and internment camps for the Ukrainian People's Republic Army detachments. He was let go after separate embassies of Ukraine were replaced with one of 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 ...
. Soon after being appointed to the position of ambassador, in May 1921 Shumsky also participated in
show trials
A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
Commissar of Education and conflict with Kaganovich
Following his return to
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Chervonyi Shlyakh, or ''Red Way''.
From 29 September 1924 until February 1927 he served as People's Commissar of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. In this position he actively implemented reform of the educational system, following the Soviet policy of "
Korenizatsiya
Korenizatsiya ( rus, коренизация, p=kərʲɪnʲɪˈzatsɨjə, , "indigenization") was an early policy of the Soviet Union for the integration of non-Russian nationalities into the governments of their specific Soviet republics. In the ...
" that favored recognition of national cultures and languages in educational institutions and state offices, and supported development of Ukrainian culture and literature, particularly writer Mykola Khvylyovy.
Shumsky came into conflict with the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine,
Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich, also Kahanovich (russian: Ла́зарь Моисе́евич Кагано́вич, Lázar' Moiséyevich Kaganóvich; – 25 July 1991), was a Soviet politician and administrator, and one of the main associates of ...
, who was appointed back in April 1925, over these issues of Ukrainization. Shumsky sought to replace Kaganovich with
Vlas Chubar
Vlas Yakovlevich Chubar ( uk, Влас Якович Чубар; russian: Вла́с Я́ковлевич Чуба́рь) ( – 26 February 1939) was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. Chubar was arrested during the Great ...
, who had earlier opposed the appointment of
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov. ; (;. 9 March Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O._S._25_February.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O. S. 25 February">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dat ...
as secretary of the Ukrainian communist party.
Joseph 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 Secreta ...
, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), intervened on the side of his ally Kaganovich in a letter to members of Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine accusing Shumsky of spreading anti-Russian sentiments in Ukraine. In May 1926 at a plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, Shumsky was forced to officially recognize his mistake, but it did not save him.
In 1927 he was removed from office after being accused of engaging in disruptive activities in the People's Commissariat of Education of the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. In February–March 1927 the plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine declared Shumsky guilty of "national deviation", which was labeled "Shumkism". Shumsky's removal was hotly debated in the Communist Party of Western Ukraine, which led to its split into "Shumskists" and supporters of the Stalinist position and the eventual dissolution of the party. After that, Shumsky was forced to leave Ukraine.
Exile and further persecution
From 1927 to 1933 he was a rector of the Leningrad Institute of National Economy, Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, a deputy head of the mass agitation department of the Central Committee of All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), a head of the Central Committee of Trade Union of Education officials, and a Presidium member of the
All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions The All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (ACCTU; russian: Всесоюзный центральный совет профессиональных союзов, VTsSPS) was the national trade union federation of the Soviet Union.
The federati ...
.
Shumsky expected to return to Ukraine, but he continued to be the object of political attacks in Ukraine. In 1930 at the 11th Congress of the CP(b)U the defeat of "Shumskism" was acclaimed, while at the November 1933 party plenum speakers denounced the anti-party Shumsky group and the "counterrevolutionary" essence of its national deviation.
On 13 May 1933 he was arrested on fabricated charges in the 1933 " UVO case" and sentenced to ten years in prison. After spending two years in Solovki prison camp of special assignment, by decision of a Special meeting of the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
of the Soviet Union on 10 December 1935 he was sentenced on charges of leadership of a "counterrevolutionary borotbist organization" to ten years exile to
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
.
In 1936, demanding acquittal, Shumsky announced a
hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
. In October 1937 he was accused in belonging to another nationalist organization of former
Borotbists
The Borotbists (Fighters) (1918–1920) was a left-nationalist political party in Ukraine. It is not be associated with its Russian affiliated counterparts - the Ukrainian Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (Borbysts) and the Ukrainian Commu ...
and was arrested in the place of his exile. Only in November 1939 was the case closed due to lack of evidence -- but which did not lead to his acquittal.
After the end of his sentence on 13 May 1943, Shumsky was left in
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk ( ; rus, Красноя́рск, a=Ru-Красноярск2.ogg, p=krəsnɐˈjarsk) (in semantic translation - Red Ravine City) is the largest city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yeni ...
because of his ill health. Throughout his time of imprisonment, he did not stop fighting for his public rehabilitation, did not admit to any of allegations, and repeatedly appealed to the Central Committee of the VKP(b). In his letter to
Joseph 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 Secreta ...
on 18 October 1945 Shumsky sharply criticized the national policy of 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 ...
, in particular exaltation of the
Russian people
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
as "senior brother".
In the exile he was writing a monograph "Malorosy" (''
Little Russians
Little Russia (russian: Малороссия/Малая Россия, Malaya Rossiya/Malorossiya; uk, Малоросія/Мала Росія, Malorosiia/Mala Rosiia), also known in English as Malorussia, Little Rus' (russian: Малая Ру ...
''), but destroyed it because of the impossibility of publishing it.
After release
In 1946 Shumsky twice unsuccessfully tried to end his life in suicide. In September 1946, on the way from
Saratov
Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...
to Kyiv, he died, allegedly by special group of the Ministry of State Security of the Soviet Union under the direction of
Pavel Sudoplatov
Pavel Anatolyevich Sudoplatov (russian: Пáвел Aнатóльевич Cудоплáтов; ua, Павло Анатолійович Судоплатов, translit=Pavlo Anatoliiovych Sudoplatov; July 7, 1907 – September 24, 1996) was a member ...
and
Grigory Mairanovsky
Grigory Moiseevich Mairanovsky (russian: Григо́рий Моисе́евич Майрано́вский, 1899, Batumi – 1964) was a Soviet biochemist and poison developer.
Career
Mairanovsky was born to a Jewish family in Batumi in 1899 ...
, at the hands of the personal orders of Stalin, Khrushchev and Kaganovich.
On 11 September 1958 Shumsky was rehabilitated.