Mikhail Grigoryevich Tskhakaya ( ka, მიხეილ გრიგოლის ძე ცხაკაია, russian: Михаил Григорьевич Цхакая; 4 May 1865 — 19 March 1950), also known as Barsov, was a

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

n revolutionary and Soviet politician. Barsov was a senior leader in 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 ...

movement in Georgia, having been active in revolutionary politics since 1880. He was one of the five signatories of the Document that formed Soviet Union. He was born in 1865 in

Martvili Municipality Martvili ( ka, მარტვილის მუნიციპალიტეტი) is a district of Georgia, in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. Its main town is Martvili. Martvili Municipality is located in the north-eastern part of we ...

. In 1892, he helped found

Mesame Dasi Mesame Dasi (Georgian: მესამე დასი) was the first social-democratic party in the Caucasus, based in Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1892 by Egnate Ninoshvili and M. G. Tskhakaya as a literary-political group, and became aff ...

(third group), the first Georgian Socialist party. When the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was founded, he joined it. He saved the young

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 ...

from expulsion for Georgian nationalism in 1904. However, Barsov made Stalin write a credo renouncing his views and attend a series of Barsov's lectures on Marxism. Despite this, they remained friends. In July 1906, Tskhakaya was Stalin's witness at his wedding to Kato Svanidze. On September 9, Tskhakaya and Stalin were among just six Bolsheviks at the Social Democratic conference in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

(the other 36 were Mensheviks). They shared a room at the

5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was held in London between May 13 and June 1, 1907. The 5th Congress had the largest attendance of the Congresses of the unified RSDLP.Thatcher, Ian D. Trotsky'. Routledge Historical Bi ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Neither were allowed to vote owing to Bolshevism's weakness in Georgia. In 1907, after a series of arrests and deportations, he went into exile in Switzerland where he visited

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 1 ...

Geneva , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. He returned to Russia in 1917, alongside Lenin on the famous sealed train. From that point onwards, he was an influential leader of the

Communist Party of Georgia Communist Party of Georgia (, ''Sakartvelos Komunisturi Partia'') is a communist party in Georgia. The party was founded on 23 February 1992 as the Socialist Labour Party. It was registered at the Ministry of Justice on 27 February 1998. In the ...

. In June 1919, he was arrested in Kutaisi by the Menshevik government, and released in May 1920. He became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Georgia. He was the representatives of the Georgian SSR under the government of the RSFSR. From 1923 to 1930 Tskhakaya served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Georgian SSR and one of the chairmen of the Central Executive Committee of the

Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , conventional_long_name = Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic , common_name = Transcaucasian SFSR , p1 = Armenian Soviet Socialist RepublicArmenian SSR , flag_p1 = Flag of SSRA ...

while also being member of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union. From 1920 he was member of the

Executive Committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

of the Communist International. In 1922 he signed the Treaty on the formation of the Soviet Union, representing the Transcaucasian SSR. He died in Moscow after a serious illness on March 19, 1950, shortly after his election as a deputy to the

Soviet of Nationalities The Soviet of Nationalities (russian: Совет Национальностей, ''Sovyet Natsionalnostey'') was the upper chamber of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, elected on the basis of universal, equal and ...

of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In the 1980s, he was reburied from the pantheonHe was buried at the

Mtatsminda Pantheon The Mtatsminda Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures ( ka, მთაწმინდის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი, ''mtats'mindis mts'eralta da sazogado mo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tskhakaya, M. G. 1865 births 1950 deaths Burials at Mtatsminda Pantheon Executive Committee of the Communist International Communist Party of Georgia (Soviet Union) politicians Revolutionaries from Georgia (country) Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Mingrelians Old Bolsheviks People from Kutais Governorate People from Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Recipients of the Order of Lenin Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic People