Yuriy Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky ( uk, Юрій Михайлович Коцюбинський) (December 7, 1896 – March 8, 1937) was a

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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, activist, member of the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

government in Ukraine, one of the co-founders of Red Cossacks Army of Ukrainian Republic.

Before the Revolution

Yuriy, like his father

Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky ( uk, Михайло Михайлович Коцюбинський), (September 17, 1864 – April 25, 1913) was a Ukrainian author whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th centur ...

, was born in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. ...

Podolia Governorate The Podolia Governorate or Podillia Governorate (), set up after the Second Partition of Poland, was a governorate (''gubernia'', ''province'', or ''government'') of the Russian Empire from 1793 to 1917, of the Ukrainian People's Republic from 1 ...

. He studied in the

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

Gymnasium. In 1913, Yuriy joined the

Bolsheviks 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 ...

and in 1916 was mobilized to the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. Later he studied in school of

praporshchik ( rus, Пра́порщик, 3=ˈprapərɕːɪk, ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in navies. It is usually equivalent to Warrant ...

s in Odessa and serving in Petrograd. In the capital Kotsiubynsky led an anti-war agitation among soldiers for which he was arrested on several occasions by the

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

. There he also became a member of a military organization at the Petrograd Committee of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (

), a commissar of Semenovsky Guard Reserve Regiment, the Chief of Red Guard and commandant of the Moscow-Narva region (Petrograd).

After the Revolution

With his future brother-in-law

Vitaly Primakov Vitaliy Markovich Primakov ( rus, Виталий Маркович Примаков, Vitaliy Markovich Primakov; uk, Віталій Маркович Примаков) (3 December 1897 – 12 June 1937) was a Soviet revolutionary, military le ...

Kotsiubynsky took active participation in storming of the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace ( rus, Зимний дворец, Zimnij dvorets, p=ˈzʲimnʲɪj dvɐˈrʲɛts) is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the Russian Emperor from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now ...

during 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 ...

. Later he headed the Red Guard detachment of Moscow-Narva Distinct ( Saint-Petersburg) against the forces of Kerensky -

Krasnov Krasnov (russian: Краснов) is a Russian family name, derived from the word ''krasota'', a diminutive for ''krasa'', "beauty". Its feminine counterpart is Krasnova. It may refer to: * Aleksandr Krasnov (born 1960), Russian cyclist * Aleksand ...

, being also the commandant of the mentioned district. In December 1917 he became a deputy of People's Secretary of Military Affairs and later was acting as the Secretary. In January 1918 he became the Chief of Staff of the Soviet Ukrainian People's Republic and chairman of military collegiate, nominally heading the army of the Petrograd Red Guards and Baltic Sailors in the fight against the national forces of the

Ukrainian People's Republic The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR), or Ukrainian National Republic (UNR), was a country in Eastern Europe that existed between 1917 and 1920. It was declared following the February Revolution in Russia by the First Universal. In March 1 ...

occupying

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

in February 1918. In reality the army was led by Muraviov who was subordinated to

Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko Vladimir Alexandrovich Antonov-Ovseenko (russian: Влади́мир Алекса́ндрович Анто́нов-Овсе́енко; ua, Володимир Антонов-Овсєєнко; 9 March 1883 – 10 February 1938), real surna ...

. In March 1918 Kotsiubynsky was elected to the Central Executive Committee (a.k.a. Tsikuka) and also was appointed as the People's Secretary of Internal Affairs. In July 1918 Kotsyubysnky joined the All Ukrainian Central Military revkom. Since November 1918 became a member of the reinstated Ukrainian

government, the

Provisional Workers-Peasants Government of Ukraine The Provisional Workers-Peasants Government of Ukraine (russian: Временное рабоче-крестьянское правительство Украины, uk, Тимчасовий Робітничо-Селянський Уряд Укра ...

. During 1919-1920 Kotsiubynsky headed several regional party offices in

and Poltava. From April to November 1919 he was a chairman of the

Chernigov Governorate The Chernigov Governorate (russian: Черниговская губерния; translit.: ''Chernigovskaya guberniya''; ), also known as the Government of Chernigov, was a guberniya in the historical Left-bank Ukraine region of the Russian ...

executive committee (governor). Since 1920 he held diplomatic missions to

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

until 1930. In 1922-23 he was an auditor of Marxist courses at the Socialist Academy. In 1930 Kotsiubynsky became the deputy of head of Derzhplan; however in September 1933 he occupied the chair of Derzhplan and became the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian

sovnarkom The Councils of People's Commissars (SNK; russian: Совет народных комиссаров (СНК), ''Sovet narodnykh kommissarov''), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (Совнарком), were the highest executive authorities of ...

(Vice Prime Minister). During these last several years he was a member of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Комуністична Партія України ''Komunistychna Partiya Ukrayiny'', КПУ, ''KPU''; russian: Коммунистическая партия Украины) was the founding and ruling ...

and the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee.

Arrest

In November 1934, Kotsiubynsky was fired from his job losing his membership in the Central Committee. In February 1935, he was arrested while being charged with anti-Soviet activities and convicted by the decision of the Special Board of

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

to six years of exile in Almaty. In March 1935 he was excluded from the Party. In October 1936 Kotsiubynsky was arrested again while in exile and transferred to

. There, together with Vasyl Poraiko, Holubenko, Tytar, Tyrchuk, Volodymyr Lohinov and Pleskachevsky, he was charged with directing activities of a secret Trotskist center in Ukraine (''Ukrainian Trotskyite Opposition'') at the behest of

Georgy Pyatakov Georgy (Yury) Leonidovich Pyatakov (russian: Гео́ргий Леони́дович Пятако́в; 6 August 1890 – 30 January 1937) was a leader of the Bolsheviks and a key Soviet politician during and after the 1917 Russian Revolution ...

. On March 8, 1937 he was convicted by the Collegiate of the Soviet Supreme Court and executed by firing squad later the same day. In December 1955 he was rehabilitated. There exist the ''Letter without envelope'' to Kotsiubynsky from Serhiy Okhrymenko in which the Ukrainian scientist blames him in bloody crimes against his own people.

''( Pavlo Khrystiuk, Ukrainian historian)''

Profile at personalities
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References

External links

Handbook on history of the Communist PartyYu.Kotsyubynsky on the service at the Red commissars
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotsiubynsky, Yuriy 1896 births 1937 deaths Politicians from Vinnytsia People from Vinnitsky Uyezd Russian military personnel of World War I Ukrainian people of World War I Old Bolsheviks Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) politicians Soviet defence ministers of Ukraine Soviet interior ministers of Ukraine Directors of the State Planning Committee of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Ambassadors of Ukraine to Austria Great Purge victims from Ukraine Ukrainian revolutionaries Russian people of Ukrainian descent Soviet people of the Ukrainian–Soviet War