Mikhail Tomsky
Mikhail Pavlovich Tomsky (Russian: Михаи́л Па́влович То́мский, born Mikhail Pavlovich Yefremov – sometimes transliterated as Efremov; Михаи́л Па́влович Ефре́мов; 31 October 1880 – 22 August 1936) was a factory worker, trade unionist and Bolshevik leader and Soviet politician. He was the Chairman of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions in the 1920s.
Mikhail Tomsky | |
|---|---|
Михаил Томский | |
Tomsky in the 1920s | |
| Chairman of the Presidium of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions | |
| In office September 1922 – May 1929 | |
| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Alexander Dogadov |
| Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets | |
| In office 29 December 1921 – 28 December 1922 | |
| Preceded by | Pyotr Zalutsky |
| Succeeded by | Timofei Sapronov |
| General Secretary of the International Trade Union Council | |
| In office 1920 – 3 July 1921 | |
| President | Solomon Lozovsky |
| Preceded by | Post established |
| Succeeded by | Post abolished |
| Full member of the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th Politburo | |
| In office 3 April 1922 – 13 July 1930 | |
| Full member of the 10th, 11th, 12th Orgburo | |
| In office 16 March 1921 – 2 June 1924 | |
| Candidate member of the 9th, 13th Orgburo | |
| In office 2 June 1924 – 1 January 1926 | |
| In office 5 April 1920 – 16 March 1921 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mikhail Pavlovich Yefremov 31 October 1880 Kolpino, Saint Petersburg Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | 22 August 1936 (aged 55) Bolshevo, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | RSDLP (Bolsheviks) (1904–1918) Russian Communist Party (1918–1936) |
| Occupation | Trade unionist |
In his youth, Tomsky worked at the Smirnov Engineering factory in St. Petersburg, but was eventually dismissed from that job for attempting to organise a trade union.
His labour activities radicalized him politically and led him to become a socialist and join the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1904 and eventually join the Bolshevik faction of the party.
During the First Moscow Trial, at the onset of the Great Purge, Tomsky was implicated. He would later commit suicide to avoid arrest by the NKVD in August 1936.