Vladimir Dmitrievich Vilensky-Sibiryakov (russian: Влади́мир Дми́триевич Виле́нский-Сибиряко́в; 8 July 1888 – 2 July 1942) was a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

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 political activist involved in 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 ...

in Siberia and later 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, ...

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 ...

representative and historian. Vladimir was born in

Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a not ...

, Siberia. He was orphaned as a child and became a foundry worker, joining the Tomsk

Social-Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

before the 1905 revolution. He was arrested in 1908 for distributing revolutionary literature amongst the railway workers on Ilanskaya railway station. In 1919 Vilensky was appointed by the

Russian Communist Party Communist Party of Russia might refer to: * Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, founded in 1898 – the forerunner of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) * Communist Party of the Soviet Union, formally established in 1912 and known origina ...

as the

plenipotentiary A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ...

for Far Eastern Affairs. He went to

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

, where he established what evolved into the

Far Eastern Bureau of the Comintern The Far Eastern Bureau of the Communist International was an organ of the Communist International established in 1921 to develop their political influence in the Far East. The name was used in subsequent years, but the continuity of the organisatio ...

, originally the Far Eastern Bureau of the Russian Communist Party. He was active in the Society of Former Political Convicts and Exiles (OPK), for a period, editing the journal ''Katorga i ssylka'' (Hard Labour and Exile). He was expelled from the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

in 1927, accused of anti-party fractional work. But he was reinstated in 1931, only to be expelled again in 1936. Vilensky-Sibiryakov was sentenced to 8 years of forced labour. He died out of exhaustion in a

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 ...

in Ilansky. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vilensky-Sibiryakov, Vladimir 1888 births 1942 deaths Russian revolutionaries Old Bolsheviks Soviet rehabilitations Gulag memoirs Soviet journalists Soviet historians People from Tomsk Comintern people Soviet diplomats People of the Russian Revolution People of the Russian Civil War People who died in the Gulag