Olga Grigoryevna Shatunovskaya (russian: Ольга Григорьевна Шатуновская; 1 March 1901,
Baku – 23 November 1990,
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...
) was a prominent
Old Bolshevik who played an important role in the implementation of
de-Stalinization in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
.
A survivor of the
Gulag
The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...
, she was a member of
Shvernik Commission
Shvernik Commission (Shvernik's Commission, ) was an informal name of the commission of the CPSU Central Committee Presidium headed by Nikolay Shvernik for the investigation of political repression in the Soviet Union during the period of Stalin. ...
created by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
to investigate the crimes of
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 Secretar ...
.
Shatunovskaya became a member of the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
when she was 16. A close associate of
Anastas Mikoyan, she worked in the party's
Baku organization since 1918 under the leadership of
Stepan Shaumian
Stepan Georgevich Shaumian (; , ''Step’an Ge'vorgi Shahumyan''; 1 October 1878 – 20 September 1918) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and politician active throughout the Caucasus. Arzumanyan, M. Շահումյան, Ստեփան Գևորգի. ...
.
During the 1930-1950s, she was a
political prisoner
A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention.
There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...
of the
Stalinist regime. After the death of Stalin, she became a member of the Soviet Party Control Committee, and head of a special commission on
rehabilitations during the
Khrushchev Thaw.
She was the chief-investigator of the
Kirov murder.
Shatunovskaya was honored with the highest Soviet medals.
Her memoirs, recorded by her children and grandchildren, were turned into a book by philosopher and essayist
Grigory Pomerants
Grigory Solomonovich Pomerants (also: Grigorii or Grigori, russian: Григо́рий Соломо́нович Помера́нц, 13 March 1918, Vilnius – 16 February 2013, Moscow) was a Russian philosopher and cultural theorist. He is the au ...
under the title ''Sledstvie vedet katorzhanka''
nvestigation led by convict published in 2004.
References
Further reading
*
External links
Biography of Shatunovskaya (in Russian)Khrushchev Era Politics and the Investigation of the Kirov Murder, 1956-1957
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shatunovskaya, Olga
1901 births
1990 deaths
Russian communists