Suren Konstantinovich Shadunts ( hy, Սուրեն Կոստանդինի Շադունց; 1898 – 1938) was

First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan The First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan was the head of the Communist Party of Tajikistan and the highest Executive power in the republic of Tajikistan from 1924 until November 1990. History Shortly after the Soviet Union was f ...

between 1934 and 1937.

Life and career

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

descent, Shadunts was born in

Jabrayil Jabrayil ( az, Cəbrayıl, ) is a ghost city in Azerbaijan, nominally the administrative capital of Azerbaijan's Jabrayil District. A town with Azerbaijani majority and Armenian plurality at various times during the Russian imperial era, and Az ...

Elisabethpol Governorate The Elizavetpol Governorate, also known after 1918 as the Ganja Governorate, was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Caucasus Viceroyalty of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Yelisavetpol (present-day Ganja). The area of the governorate st ...

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. ...

(now

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

) in 1898. He received his early education in

Shusha / hy, Շուշի , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = ShushaCollection2021.jpg , image_caption = Landmarks of Shusha, from top left:Ghazanchetsots Cathedral • Yukhari Govha ...

. In 1917, Shadunts became a member of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

. He became an activist for the communist cause in Azerbaijan. In 1921, he went to Armenia and participated in the fighting as a result of the establishment of

Republic of Mountainous Armenia The Republic of Mountainous Armenia ( hy, Լեռնահայաստանի Հանրապետութիւն ''Leřnahayastani Hanrapetutyun''), also known as simply Mountainous Armenia ( ''Leřnahayastan''), was an anti-Bolshevik Armenian state roughly ...

. After the Republic of Mountainous Armenia was dismembered, Shadunts became the Executive Secretary of the Municipal Committee in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

in 1923. He became the head of the Department of Water Resources of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the Armenian SSR in 1923 and served this position until 1927. From 1928 to 1931, he was the head of the Transcaucasian Water Management bureau. Shadunts eventually became the chairman of the Central Asian Cotton-growing Company in 1932 and remained at this post for two years. Immediately thereafter, he became the secretary for the Central Asian Bureau of Communist USSR. A year later, in 1935, Shadunts became the first secretary of Tajikistan SSR. In the same year, he was awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

for his outstanding achievements in the field of agriculture and for exceeding state plans. While on a working visit in Moscow, Shadunts was arrested for 'counter-revolutionary' activity and was sentenced to death; his execution took place in 1938. Shadunts' reputation was formally reestablished in 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shadunts, Suren 1898 births 1938 deaths People from Hadrut Province People from Elizavetpol Governorate Armenian communists Armenian politicians Soviet Armenians Recipients of the Order of Lenin Great Purge victims from Armenia Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Tajikistan