Vitaliy Markovich Primakov (; ) (3 December 1897 – 12 June 1937) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

revolutionary, military leader of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, and commander of the Red Cossacks. He was a close friend of the Kotsiubynsky family and a son-in-law of

Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky Mykhailo Mykhailovych Kotsiubynsky (; 17 September 1864 – 25 April 1913) was a Ukrainian author whose writings described typical Ukrainian life at the start of the 20th century. Kotsiubynsky's early stories were described as examples of an e ...

Early life

Vitaly Primakov was born in 1897 in Semenivka,

Novozybkovsky Uyezd Novozybkovsky Uyezd (''Новозыбковский уезд'') or Novozybkiv Povit () was one of the subdivisions of the Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre ...

Chernigov Governorate Chernigov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. It was officially created in 1802 from the disbanded Little Russia Governorate (1796-1802), Little Russia Governorate and had its capital in Cher ...

as part of a family with a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

background. In 1914 he joined the

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

faction of the

Russian Social Democratic Labour Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

and was exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

for political reasons in 1915.

Revolution

Primakov was released from exile during the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

in 1917. He became a member of Kiev's

committee. In August 1917, he was conscripted into the Russian Army. While being a delegate of Second Congress of Soviets in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

he was assigned commander of one of the squadrons participating in the assault on the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

. Then he led

squadrons during fights with the

White Army The White Army, also known as the White Guard, the White Guardsmen, or simply the Whites, was a common collective name for the armed formations of the White movement and Anti-Sovietism, anti-Bolshevik governments during the Russian Civil War. T ...

troops of Lieutenant General

Pyotr Krasnov Pyotr Nikolayevich Krasnov (; – 17 January 1947), also known as Peter Krasnov, was a Russian military leader, writer and later Nazi collaborator. Krasnov served as a lieutenant general in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I and la ...

near

Gatchina Gatchina (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was pr ...

Civil War

In February 1918, using

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

troops that crossed over to the communists, he formed the Red Cossacks military unit. In August 1919, Primakov became commander of the brigade. In October 1919, he was appointed commander of the Eighth Cavalry Division. In October 1920, Primakov became the commander of the First Corps of Red Cossacks. For a successful breach of the White Army defense line near

Fatezh Fatezh () is a town and the administrative center of Fatezhsky District in Kursk Oblast, Russia, located on thUsozha River north of Kursk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 4,959 (1897). History and etymology It was founded ...

in November 1919, he was awarded his first

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. His second Order of the Red Banner was awarded for combat near

Proskurov Khmelnytskyi (, ) is a city in western Ukraine. Located on the Southern Bug, it serves as the administrative centre of Khmelnytskyi Oblast as well as Khmelnytskyi Raion within the oblast. With a population of Khmelnytskyi is the second-largest ...

. Primakov then received his third Order of the Red Banner for fighting the

Basmachi movement The Basmachi movement (, derived from ) was an uprising against Imperial Russian and Soviet rule in Central Asia by rebel groups inspired by Islamic beliefs. It has been called "probably the most important movement of opposition to Soviet rul ...

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

Service after Civil War

In 1923 Primakov graduated in Higher Academic Military Courses at RKKA. In 1924–25, he was the head of the Highest Cavalry school in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. In 1925, he was sent to China to be military advisor of the Chinese First National Army. In 1927, he was appointed as the military attaché in Afghanistan. In 1929 – under the disguise of Turkish officer Ragib-bey – he led the Red Army intervention in Afghanistan. This was a military operation of Soviet troops to reinstate

Amanullah Khan Ghazi (warrior), Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto/Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 26 April 1960) was the head of state, sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emirate of Afghanistan, Emir and after 1926 as Kingdom of Afghanistan, King, until his abdic ...

as ruler of Afghanistan. In 1930, Primakov was sent to Japan as military attaché there. In 1931–33, Primakov was commander of the Thirteenth Infantry Corps. In February 1933 he became deputy commander of the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included t ...

. In December 1934, he was appointed inspector of higher education institutions of Red Army. In January 1935, he became deputy commander of the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

Arrest and Trial

Primakov was arrested on 14 August 1936 as part of Stalin's

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

. He was subjected to torture and pleaded guilty of being part of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization and testified against many fellow Soviet military commanders. He was found guilty and sentenced to death on 11 June 1937. Primakov was rehabilitated posthumously in 1957.

Personal life

Primakov was married three times. He was once married to Oksana Kotsyubynska, the daughter of Mykhailo Kotsyubynsky. In 1930, he married

Lilya Brik Lilya Yuryevna Brik (alternatively spelled ''Lili'' or ''Lily''; ; née Kagan; – August 4, 1978) was a Russian author and socialite, connected to many leading figures in the Russian avant-garde between 1914 and 1930. She was the lover and mus ...

, the longtime lover of

Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( – 14 April 1930) was a Russian poet, playwright, artist, and actor. During his early, Russian Revolution, pre-Revolution period leading into 1917, Mayakovsky became renowned as a prominent figure of the Ru ...

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20090427001148/http://www.focus.in.ua/article/17229.html * http://www.knowbysight.info/PPP/03824.asp
Interview with Yuri Primakov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Primakov, Vitaly 1897 births 1937 deaths People from Chernihiv Oblast People from Novozybkovsky Uyezd Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Old Bolsheviks All-Russian Central Executive Committee members Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union members Soviet komkors Russian military personnel of World War I Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution Soviet people of the Ukrainian–Soviet War Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Case of the Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization Great Purge victims from Ukraine Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Executed military personnel Soviet rehabilitations Afghan Civil War (1928–1929) Soviet military attachés Military history of Zhangjiakou Members of the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee