Mikhail Mikhailovich Lashevich (russian: Михаил Михайлович Лашевич; 1884 in Odessa,

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. ...

– 30 August 1928 in Harbin, China), also known under the name ''Gaskovich'', was a Soviet military and party leader. Lashevich was born as Moisey Gaskovich into a Jewish merchant family in Odessa. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1901 and after the split of 1903 adhered with 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 ...

faction."Lashevich Mikhail Mikhailovich"
He was conscripted into the Imperial Russian Army during the First World War and was twice wounded. After the

February Revolution of 1917 The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

, he went to St. Petersburg, where he opposed the decision of Lenin to launch the Bolshevik revolution. After the

October Revolution 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 mome ...

, however, he held various higher military, party and governmental posts. As a senior commissar in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

he took part in the defeat of Yudenich, Denikin and Kolchak. He was appointed with

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...

to the Revolutionary Military Council in 1923, and the same year was elected to the Party's Central Committee. Lashevich was Deputy Commissar for War in 1925-26. Once

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 ...

started to rise to power, Lashevich sided with

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...

. As a result, he was removed from central posts and sent to Harbin to serve as acting manager of the

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

on 14 April 1926.worldstatesmen.org, page "Former Foreign Colonies and Concessions in China," accessed 25 February 2019 In 1927, at the 15th Congress of the VKP(b), he was expelled from the Party, together with other Trotskyists. In 1928, after he recanted his opposition, his party membership was restored. In August 1928, he was reported to have been arrested by Chinese authorities in connection with the Barga uprising at Hulunbuir, which was led by the Inner Mongolian politician Merse. Lashevich committed suicide on 30 August 1928, and his wife and mother were killed in the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...

a decade later. He is remembered by a plaque at the Monument to the Fighters of the Revolution on the Field of Mars in St Petersburg.

References

1884 births 1928 suicides Old Bolsheviks Soviet Jews in the military Soviet Jews Burials on the Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg) People who committed suicide in prison custody 1928 deaths Suicides in China Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner {{soviet-bio-stub