Pyotr Alexandrovich Smirnov (russian: Пётр Александрович Смирнов; 29 May 1897 – 23 February 1939) was a

Soviet 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, ...

commissar, deputy minister of defence, and commander of the Soviet Navy.

Biography

Smirnov was born in a workers family in a village near Vyatka in 1897. He finished school and worked as a smith in a timber mill from 1913. He joined the

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 ...

in March 1917 and was a member of the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

. He fought in the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

ending as a brigade commander and a political officer of an army. In 1921 he took part in the suppression of the

Kronstadt rebellion The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Locat ...

. In the 1920s he was a political commissar of the Volga and North Caucasus military districts. From 1926 he joined the political directorate of the armed forces and was political commissar of the

Baltic Fleet , image = Great emblem of the Baltic fleet.svg , image_size = 150 , caption = Baltic Fleet Great ensign , dates = 18 May 1703 – present , country = , allegiance = (1703–1721) (1721–1917) (1917–1922) (1922–1991)(1991–present) ...

and Military districts. In 1937 he was involved in the purge of military leaders including

Yakov Gamarnik Yan Gamarnik (birth name Jakov Tzudikovich Gamarnik (russian: Я́ков Цу́дикович Гама́рник), sometimes known as Yakov Gamarnik (russian: Я́ков Гама́рник; – 31 May 1937), was the Chief of the Political Depa ...

. In October 1937 he became deputy minister of defence, and was commander of the Soviet Navy from December 1937.

Repression

He was arrested in June 1938 and executed by firing squad in February 1939. He was rehabilitated in 1956.

Awards

* The order of Lenin; * Order of the Red Banner (1921).

References

1897 births 1939 deaths People from Slobodskoy Uyezd Old Bolsheviks First convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union NKVD officers Soviet Navy personnel Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner People of the Russian Civil War Great Purge victims from Russia Russian people executed by the Soviet Union Soviet rehabilitations {{s-end