Background
Sverdlov, Iakov was born on June 3, 1885 in Nizhnii Novgorod. Son of an engraver.
Sverdlov, Iakov was born on June 3, 1885 in Nizhnii Novgorod. Son of an engraver.
Became one of the most active Bolshevik propagandists in many Russian towns, especially on the Volga and in the Urals. During the 1905 Revolution, led the Bolsheviks in Ekaterinburg (now Sverdlovsk). Arrested and imprisoned, escaped, worked in the Moscow revolutionary underground.
Until the 1917 Revolution, periods of exile (once with Stalin in Turukhansk) alternated with revolutionary work in different cities. Released from exile after the February Revolution 1917, active in Petrograd and Ekaterinburg. One of the organizers of the October Revolution 1917 (member of the Central Committee and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party).
Immediately after the Bolshevik take-over, appointed chairman of the All-Union Executive Committee (Head of State), 8 November 1917. Chairman of the commission for the preparation of the first constitution of the RSFSR. One of the ablest and most active organizers among the Bolsheviks in the early period of Soviet power, highly valued by Lenin. Responsible (with Lenin) for the order to assassinate the Tsar and his family.
According to the official version, died after a sudden illness. According to Robert Massie, at the time there were persistent rumours that his sudden death at this young age was caused by an attack on him by a worker at a meeting in Moscow. A documentary clip showing his funeral was shown on Soviet TV, November 1987, in connection with 70 years of the October Revolution.
His head, clearly visible in the open coffin, was bandaged.