Nikolai Stepulov (20 March 1913 – 2 January 1968) was an Estonian lightweight boxer, military officer and criminal. As a boxer he won silver medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin and 1937 European Championships, and fought professionally in 1938–39. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, after the Soviet invasion of Estonia in 1940, Stepulov, an ethnic

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 ...

, joined the Soviet militia and initiated the

extrajudicial killing An extrajudicial killing (also known as extrajudicial execution or extralegal killing) is the deliberate killing of a person without the lawful authority granted by a judicial proceeding. It typically refers to government authorities, whethe ...

of a number of imprisoned members of the Estonian Defense League; this act was condemned by both sides and resulted in Stepulov serving a jail sentence in the Soviet Union. Later after returning to Soviet-controlled Estonia he was arrested a few times for burglary and died in a Soviet prison hospital.

Boxing career

Stepulov took up boxing in 1927 and in 1933–37 won six consecutive Estonian titles. At the 1936 Olympics he won his first four bouts and dominated the first round of the final against

Imre Harangi Imre Harangi (16 October 1913 – 4 February 1979) was a Hungarian amateur lightweight boxer. He placed second at the 1934 European Championships and won a gold medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics in a close final against Nikolai Stepulov N ...

of Hungary. Yet Harangi performed better in the last two rounds, despite having both eyebrows swollen and cut open, and won by a close decision. Next year Stepulov narrowly lost the European final against

Herbert Nürnberg Herbert Nürnberg (16 July 1914 – 24 June 1995)World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He attempted to return to boxing in 1945, but retired after placing second at the Estonian championships.

World War II and after

During his boxing career Stepulov served in the Estonian Army as a private, and was promoted to corporal for his Olympic success. In 1937 he worked as a messenger at the Ministry of Economic Affairs. In 1940, when Soviet troops entered Estonia, he enlisted to the Soviet militia and was appointed as a group leader responsible for collecting weapons from the

Estonian Defence League The Estonian Defence League ( et, Eesti Kaitseliit) is the name of the unified paramilitary armed forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Defence League is a paramilitary defence organization whose aim is to guarantee the preservation of the indep ...

(EDL). On 21 June 1940, when an EDL group came to give up their weapons, he ordered to fire at them, killing 17 and wounding more than 12 people. The order was condemned both by Estonians and the Soviet authorities. Stepulov was arrested and spent most of the war in a Soviet prison. After that he returned to Estonia and took odd jobs as a factory worker, turf cutter, lumberjack and boxing coach and referee. He eventually became a heavy drinker and got involved with criminals. In 1955, he was arrested for burglary and sentenced to seven years. He was released after four years, but was later arrested a few more times for similar offenses. In the 1960s he developed the

Parkinson’s disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a chronic condition, long-term neurodegeneration, degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disea ...

and died in the hospital of the Tallinn central prison.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stepulov, Nikolai 1913 births 1968 deaths Sportspeople from Narva People from Saint Petersburg Governorate Estonian male boxers Lightweight boxers Olympic boxers of Estonia Boxers at the 1936 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Estonia Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1936 Summer Olympics Estonian people of Russian descent Estonian communists Estonian people of World War II Soviet military personnel of World War II Burials at Metsakalmistu