Birthday anniversary of Sergey M. Kirov, Soviet politician

15 (27) March 1886 in a small provincial town Urzhum, Vyatka province, was born Sergey Mironovich Kirov (real surname Kostrikov), Soviet party and state leader.

Being deprived of mother and father in his early childhood, Sergei Kostrikov and his two sisters remained in the care of their grandmother and were sent by her to an orphanage. In 1894 he enrolled in primary school, then in the city school, after the successful completion of which as a Zemsky fellow was sent to Kazan Mechanics and Technical College.

Back in Urzhum Kirov met with political exiles and was carried away by illegal literature. In 1904 he went to Tomsk, with the intention to prepare for admission to the Institute of Technology. There Kirov became an active member of the Tomsk Social-Democratic organization. In July 1905 he was elected a member of the Tomsk committee of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP).

During the revolution of 1905-1907 Kirov had been in charge of illegal printing press, organized fighting squads. Several times he was briefly detained, and in 1907 was sentenced to a year and 4 months in the fortress. After his liberation Kirov moved to Irkutsk, where he restored the party organization destroyed by police. Hiding from police, in May 1909 he went to Vladikavkaz, where headed a Bolshevik organization.

During the First World War (1914-18) Kirov led the entire Bolshevik political work in the North Caucasus. After the February Revolution of 1917 he was elected to the Board of Vladikavkaz. In October 1917, Kirov was a delegate to the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets, took part in the October armed uprising in Petrograd. In February - March 1918, he participated in the II Regional Congress of the peoples of the Terek River, which was held in Pyatigorsk and proclaimed Soviet power in the North Caucasus.

May 29, 1920 Kirov was appointed an authorized representative of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR) in Georgia. 01-12 October 1920 Sergey Mironovich, as a member of the Soviet delegation, was in Riga during a peace treaty conclusion with Poland. Having returned to the North Caucasus, he became a member of the Caucasian Bureau of the RCP (b) Central Committee.

At the 10th Congress of the RCP (b) in March 1921, Kirov was elected a candidate member of the RCP (b) Central Committee, and in early July of that year - Secretary of the Communist Party (b) Central Committee of Azerbaijan. He made a considerable contribution to the recovery of the oil industry in the North Caucasus. Kirov was also one of the founders of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic (ZSFSR) in December 1922.

At the 12th Congress of the RCP (b), held in April 1923, Kirov was elected a member of the RCP (b) Central Committee. In February 1926 he was elected first secretary of the Leningrad Provincial Committee of the CPSU (b) and the North-West Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b). At this post, Kirov led the fight for party unity against the various anti-party factions. In 1930 he was a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), and from 1934 - Secretary-General and member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU ( b).

December 1, 1934 Kirov was assassinated in the Smolny building at Leningrad.

December 6, 1934 the urn containing the ashes of Sergey Mironovich was placed in the Kremlin wall on the Red Square in Moscow.

Lit.: Бастрыкин А. И. Тени исчезают в Смольном: Убийство Кирова. СПб., 2001; Гугов Р. А., Улигов У. А. С. М. Киров на Тереке. Нальчик, 1986; Дмитриева Г. И., Секушин В. И. Из когорты ленинской гвардии: К 100-летию со дня рождения С. М. Кирова. Л., 1985; Долунц Г. К. Киров на Северном Кавказе. Грозный, 1986; Ефимов Н. А. С. М. Киров: от мифа к правде. Вятка (Киров), 2009; Замыслов Ю. В. С. М. Киров – трибун революций. М., 1980; Кирилина А. А. Неизвестный Киров: Мифы и реальность. СПб.; М., 2001; Киров С. М. Избранные статьи и речи: 1912-1934. Л., 1939; Киров С. М. Собраться в единую братскую семью: статьи и речи по национальному вопросу. Псков, 2010; Красников С. С. М. Киров. Жизнь и деятельность. М., 1964; Музей С. М. Кирова: сайт. 2010-2013. URL: http://kirovmuseum.ru/; О Сергее Кирове: Воспоминания, очерки, статьи современников. М., 1985; Пламенный трибун революции: С. М. Киров: Рек. указ. лит. М., 1987; Росляков М. В. Убийство Кирова: Политические и уголовные преступления в 1930-х гг.: Свидетельства очевидца. Л., 1991; Cинeльникoв С. С. Киров. М.,1964.

Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:

С. М. Киров (1886–1934) : [коллекция Президентской библиотеки].