Background
ZHIGA, Ivan was born in 1895 in village Ivanovskoyc, Smolensk Province.
ZHIGA, Ivan was born in 1895 in village Ivanovskoyc, Smolensk Province.
Completed parish school. Studied at Higher Literature and Art Institute and at Moscow University.
From age 18 worked at a plant. 1915 drafted into Russian Army. Active in Bolshevik underground.
Fought in 1917 October Revol and Civil War. 1917 deleg, 2nd All-Russian Congress of Soviets. 1918-1922 worked for Extraordinary Commission Against Counterrevolution, Sabotage and Speculation.
1914 first work printed. 1922-1925 worked for newspaper “Pravda”. Edited uyezd newspapers.
Member, “Kuznitsa” (The Smithy) lit associate. During World War 2 worked for frontline periodicals.
Communist Party member from 1917.