V. Volodarsky (russian: В. Володарский; December 11, 1891 – June 20, 1918) (born: Moisey Markovich Goldstein) was a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

and

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, ...

politician. He was assassinated in 1918.

Biography

Early years

V. Volodarsky was born to the family of a Jewish craftsman in

Ostropol Staryi Ostropil ( uk, Старий Остропіль, links=no), also known as Ostropil ( uk, Остропіль), is a selo on the Sluch River located in Khmelnytskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast about 133 miles (222 km) WSW of Kyiv, Ukr ...

, in 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 ...

of the

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. ...

(present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

Revolutionary politics

In 1905, he became involved in revolutionary activity within the

General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia The General Jewish Labour Bund in Lithuania, Poland and Russia ( yi, ‏אַלגעמײנער ייִדישער אַרבעטער־בונד אין ליטע, פּױלן און רוסלאַנד , translit=Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter-bund in Lite, Poy ...

, but soon joined Spilka, the

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

Social Democratic organisation which aligned itself with the

Menshevik The Mensheviks (russian: меньшевики́, from меньшинство 'minority') were one of the three dominant factions in the Russian socialist movement, the others being the Bolsheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. The factions eme ...

faction of the

Russian Social Democratic Labor Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP; in , ''Rossiyskaya sotsial-demokraticheskaya rabochaya partiya (RSDRP)''), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or the Russian Social Democratic Party, was a socialist pol ...

. He was briefly imprisoned in 1908 and then was politically active in

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

. Then in 1911 he was exiled by the government to

Arkhangelsk Arkhangelsk (, ; rus, Арха́нгельск, p=ɐrˈxanɡʲɪlʲsk), also known in English as Archangel and Archangelsk, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies o ...

, but was included in the general

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

of 1913. Continued persecution led him to emigrate to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, settling in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Here he became active in the International Trade Union of Tailors and the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

. During

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 ...

, Volodarsky sided with the internationalist Mensheviks and moved to the left. In 1916-1917, he was a contributor to the New York-based newspaper of the

Russian Socialist Federation The Russian Socialist Federation was a semi-autonomous American political organization which was part of the Socialist Party of America from 1915 until the split of the national organization into rival socialist and communist organizations in the ...

, ''

Novy Mir ''Novy Mir'' (russian: links=no, Новый мир, , ''New World'') is a Russian-language monthly literary magazine. History ''Novy Mir'' has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It was supposed to be modelled on the popular pre-Soviet ...

'' (New World), edited by

Nikolai Bukharin Nikolai Ivanovich Bukharin (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Буха́рин) ( – 15 March 1938) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, Marxist philosopher and economist and prolific author on revolutionary theory. ...

Return to Russia

In May 1917, Volodarsky returned to Russia, joined the

Mezhraiontsy The Mezhraiontsy ( rus, межрайонцы, p=mʲɪʐrɐˈjɵnt͡sɨ), usually translated as the "Interdistrictites,"''Mezhraionka'' and ''Mezhraiontsy'' are derived from the Russian ''"mezh-"'' (meaning "inter-" or "between'") + ''"raion"'' (me ...

group and was elected to the

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

City

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

. Along with the rest of the ''mezhraiontsy'', he joined the

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 ...

s at the 6th Party Congress in July–August 1917 and soon became one of their best known public speakers and agitators. He focused his activity in the

Petergof Petergof (russian: Петерго́ф), known as Petrodvorets () from 1944 to 1997, is a municipal town in Petrodvortsovy District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, located on the southern shore of the Gulf of Finland. The town hosts ...

area, including the Putilov factory. In mid-October 1917, while the Bolsheviks were debating whether to try to overthrow the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government ( rus, Временное правительство России, Vremennoye pravitel'stvo Rossii) was a provisional government of the Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately ...

, Volodarsky sided with

Grigory Zinoviev Grigory Yevseyevich Zinoviev, . Transliterated ''Grigorii Evseevich Zinov'ev'' according to the Library of Congress system. (born Hirsch Apfelbaum, – 25 August 1936), known also under the name Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky (russian: Ов ...

and

Lev Kamenev Lev Borisovich Kamenev. (''né'' Rozenfeld; – 25 August 1936) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a prominent Soviet politician. Born in Moscow to parents who were both involved in revolutionary politics, Kamenev attended Imperial Moscow Uni ...

, who were against the insurrection.Leon Trotsky, ''The History of the Russian Revolution'', volume 3: ''The Triumph of the Soviets'', Chapter 42,
Lenin Summons to Insurrection
. At the Second Congress of Soviets during the

October Revolution of 1917 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 ...

, Volodarsky was elected to the

All-Russian Central Executive Committee The All-Russian Central Executive Committee ( rus, Всероссийский Центральный Исполнительный Комитет, Vserossiysky Centralny Ispolnitelny Komitet, VTsIK) was the highest legislative, administrative and r ...

(VTsIK). He was appointed editor of the ''Red Gazette'' in Petrograd and chief of the Press Division of the Executive Committee of the Union of Northern Communes. This gave him broad censorship powers. His colleague

Anatoly Lunacharsky Anatoly Vasilyevich Lunacharsky (russian: Анато́лий Васи́льевич Лунача́рский) (born Anatoly Aleksandrovich Antonov, – 26 December 1933) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and the first Bolshevik Soviet People's ...

wrote: : ''And he was ruthless. He was imbued not only with the full menace of the October Revolution, but with a foretaste of the outbursts of

Red terror The Red Terror (russian: Красный террор, krasnyj terror) in Soviet Russia was a campaign of political repression and executions carried out by the Bolsheviks, chiefly through the Cheka, the Bolshevik secret police. It started in lat ...

which were to come after his death. There is no sense in concealing the fact that Volodarsky was a terrorist. He was profoundly convinced that if we were to falter in lashing out at the hydra of counter-revolution it would devour not only us but along with us the hopes that October had raised all over the world.'' He was against the

Brest-Litovsk Treaty The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (also known as the Treaty of Brest in Russia) was a separate peace treaty signed on 3 March 1918 between Russia and the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire), that ended Russia's ...

, but remained silent on the topic in order to maintain party discipline.

Death

Volodarsky was assassinated on June 20, 1918 by Grigory Ivanovich Semyonov, a member of the Central Battle Unit of the

Socialist-Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party, or the Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries (the SRs, , or Esers, russian: эсеры, translit=esery, label=none; russian: Партия социалистов-революционеров, ), was a major politi ...

, during labour unrest at the Obukhov Works in

. He was buried at the

Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution The Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution (russian: Памятник Борцам Революции) is a memorial on the Field of Mars in Saint Petersburg. It marks the burial places of some of those who died during the February and Octobe ...

on St. Petersburg's

Field of Mars The term Field of Mars ( la, Campus Martius) goes back to antiquity, and designates an area, inside or near a city, used as a parade or exercise ground by the military. Notable examples of places which were used for these purposes include: * Campus ...

Honors

In 1918, the town of

Poshekhonye Poshekhonye (russian: Пошехо́нье) is a town and the administrative center of Poshekhonsky District in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located on the Sogozha River, northwest of Yaroslavl, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: ...

was renamed Poshekhonye-Volodarsk (Пошехо́нье-Волода́рск). It reverted to its original name in 1992. The town Volodarsk was named after him in 1920. The sewing factory established at the seized Esders and Scheefhaals department store in 1919 was named in Goldstein's honor in 1922. Streets throughout the USSR were named in his honor; see a partial list in Russian Wikipedia. The

Volodarsky Bridge The Volodarsky Bridge () is a moveable bridge across the Neva River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The bridge connects Narodnaya and Ivanovskaya streets (Nevsky district). It is named after V. Volodarsky, a revolutionary, who was killed near the ...

, located near where he was killed, was named after him. The munitions works in

Ulyanovsk Ulyanovsk, known until 1924 as Simbirsk, is a city and the administrative center of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River east of Moscow. Population: The city, founded as Simbirsk (), was the birthplace of Vladimir Lenin (born ...

was briefly renamed for him (''Zavod Volodarskogo'' - "Volodarsky's Factory") from 1928 to 1941.

References

External links

Anatoly Lunacharsky on Volodarsky
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volodarsky 1891 births 1918 deaths People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast People from Volhynian Governorate Ukrainian Jews Bundists Mensheviks Mezhraiontsy Old Bolsheviks Jewish socialists Jewish Soviet politicians People murdered in Russia Assassinated Russian politicians Assassinated Jews Russian revolutionaries Ukrainian revolutionaries Burials on the Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)