Politburo Members 1919 to approx 1940


Copyright © 1998 by Hugo S. Cunningham
Individual, non-commercial reproduction is authorized, provided this notice is retained.


21 Aug 98

After their victorious coup in Nov 1917, the Bolsheviks, formerly a small conspiratorial organization, found the need for a more established structure to run the country. Among other changes, the Eighth Party Congress created in March 1919 a "Politburo" of senior members, to be selected from the larger Central Committee, to act on matters too urgent for the full Central Committee. Lars T. Lih et al. analogize it to a parliamentary system: The Party Congresses, meeting every two years until well into the 1920s, were the "electorate." They chose the Central Committee (a "parliament"), which in turn chose the Politburo (the Prime Minister and his cabinet).

Sources

View same table, but with small photos of some Politburo members, at this site:
polit-hi-ph.html.

Caution:

name Factional loyalty:
(a)- ally, (p)- protege, (i)- somewhat independent.

Distinctive power base, background
occasion of accession to Politburo
date of accession
(c)- candidate member
(f)- full member
Reason for departure from Politburo

Date of departure
dates of birth and death reason for death,
if before Stalin's (1953)
Vladimir Ilich
Lenin
(Ulyanov)
founder and leader of party 8th Congress
(f) Mar 1919
death(1924) 22 Apr 1870-
21 Jan 1924
natural
Lev Davydovich
Trotsky [Trockij]
(Bronshtejn)
Leader in 1917 coup,
founder of Red Army
8th Congress
(f) Mar 1919
Defeat of "United Opposition"

CC Plenary Session
expelled 23 Oct 1926
7 Nov 1879-
20 Aug 1940
assassinated in Mexico by NKVD
Iosif Vissarionovich
Stalin
(Dzhugashvili)
8th Congress
(f) Mar 1919
death (1953)20 Dec 1879- 5 Mar 1953 natural
Lev Borisovich
Kamenev
(Rozenfel'd)
Zinov'ev (a).

Moscow party organization
8th Congress
(f) Mar 1919
Defeat of "United Opposition"

14th Congress
demoted to candidate, 1 Jan 1926;

CC Plenary Session
expelled 23 Oct 1926
6 Jul 1883-
25 Aug 1936
tried (1936) and shot
Nikolaj N.
Krestinskij
Trotsky.

Party Secretariat
8th Congress
(f) Mar 1919.
Opposed Lenin's moderate N.E.P.

10th Congress
22 Mar 1921
? - 1938 tried (1938) and shot
Grigorij Evseevich
Zinov'ev
(Apfel'baum)
Orator,
Chairman of Comintern,
party boss of Peterburg
8th Congress
(c) Mar 1919;
10th Congress
(f) 22 Mar 1921.
Defeat of "United Opposition"

CC Plenary Session
expelled Jul 1926
8 Sep 1883- 25 Aug 1936 tried (1936) and shot
Nikolaj Ivanovich
Bukharin
8th Congress
(c) Mar 1919;
13th Congress
(f) 2 Jun 1924.
Opposed Collectivization

CC Plenary Session
expelled Nov 1929
9 Oct 1888- 13 Mar 1938 tried (1938) and shot
Vyacheslav Mixajlovich
Molotov
(Skryabin)
Stalin (p). 10th Congress
(c) 22 Mar 1921;
14th Congress
(f) 1 Jan 1926.
Failed ouster of Khrushchov

CC Plenary Session
expelled Jun 1957
9 Mar 1890- 8 Nov 1986
Mixail Ivanovich
Kalinin
Stalin (p).

innocuous figurehead, of peasant origin
10th Congress
(c) 22 Mar 1921;
13th Congress
(c) 2 Jun 1924;
14th Congress
(f) 1 Jan 1926.
dropped in 1923,
but restored in 1924;
death (1946)
19 Nov 1875- 3 Jun 1946 natural
Aleksej Ivanovich
Rykov
Bukharin (a). 11th Congress
(f) 3 Apr 1922;
Opposed Collectivization

CC and CCC Plenary session
expelled Dec 1930.
25 Feb 1881- 14 Mar 1938 tried (1938) and shot
Mixail Pavlovich
Tomskij
(Efremov)
Bukharin (a).
Trade unions
11th Congress
(f) 3 April 1922.
Opposed Collectivization

Jul 1930
31 Oct 1880- 22 Aug 1936 forced suicide
Valerian Vladimirovich
Kuibyshev [Kujbyshev]
Stalin (p)(i). 11th Congress
(c) 3 Apr 1922
15th Congress
(f) 19 Dec 1927
dropped in 1926,
but restored in 1927.
death (1935)
6 Jun 1888- 25 Jan 1935 Natural? Accusations of Trotskyism withdrawn after death; canonized.
Feliks E^dmundovich
Dzerzhinskij
Ch.K. -- G.P.U. 13th Congress
(c) 2 Jun 1924
death (1926) 11 Sep 1877- 20 Jul 1926 natural
Kliment Efremovich
Voroshilov
Stalin (p).
Red Army
14th Congress
(f) 1 Jan 1926.
Failed ouster of Khrushchov

CC Plenary Session
expelled Jun 1957
4 Feb 1881- 2 Dec 1969
Yan E^rnestovich
Rudzutak
Stalin (p)(i).

Trade unions
14th Congress
(c) Jan 1926;
Zinov'ev expelled
(f) Jul 1926
17th Congress
(c) 10 Feb 1934
Seconded to CCC, 1932-1934;
Purged in 1938.
15 Aug 1887- 19 Jul 1938 Tried (1938) and shot
Grigorij Ivanovich
Petrovskij
?

Head of Ukrainian SSR "government"
14th Congress
(c) 1 Jan 1926

Removed early 1939.
4 Feb 1878 - 9 Jan 1958 Life may have been spared as one of 12 Bolshevik deputies to Tsarist duma.
Nikolaj Aleksandrovich
Uglanov
Stalin (p);
Bukharin
14th Congress
(c) 1 Jan 1926.
Opposed Collectivization

CC Plenary Session
29 Apr 1929
1886-1937 shot
Georgij Konstantinovich ("Sergo")
Ordzhonikidze
Stalin (p)(i).

Popular; effective manager.
CC Plenary Session
(c) Jul 1926;
Rykov expelled
(f) Dec 1930.
Seconded to C.C.C, 1926-1930;
death (1937)
24 Oct 1886- 18 Feb 1937 forced suicide; ambivalently canonized.
Sergej Mironovich
Kirov
(Kostrikov)
Stalin (p)(i).

Orator, popular and charismatic
CC Plenary Session
(c) Jan 1926;
16th Congress
(f) 13 Jul 1930.
death (1934) 27 Mar 1886- 1 Dec 1934 assassinated on Stalin's secret order; canonized.
Anastas Ivanovich
Mikoyan
Stalin (p). CC Plenary Session
(c) Jul 1926;
CC Plenary Session
(f) 1 Feb 1935
1960s? 25 Nov 1895- 21 Oct 1978
Lazar' Moiseevich
Kaganovich
Stalin (p).
Brutal but effective manager
CC Plenary Session
(c) Jul 1926
16th Congress
(f) 13 Jul 1930
Failed ouster of Khrushchov.

CC Plenary Session
expelled Jun 1957
22 Nov 1893- 25 Jul 1991
Vlas Yakovlevich
Chubar'
Stalin (p). Ordzhonikidze seconded to C.C.C.
(c) 3 Nov 1926;
CC Plenary Session
(f) 1 Feb 1935
1938 ? - 1938 Presumed executed
Andrej Andreevich
Andreev
Stalin (p).
15th Congress
(c) 19 Dec 1927;
17th Congress
(f) 10 Feb 1934
Seconded to C.C.C. 1930-1934.

Agricultural policy out of favor
1950?
?
Stanislav Vikent'evich
Kosior
Stalin (p)(i).

Party boss of Ukrainian SSR
15th Congress
(c) 19 Dec 1927;
(f)16th Congress
(f) 13 Jul 1930.
1938 1889-1939 Shot
Karl Yanovich
Bauman
Stalin?

Supported Collectivization
replaced Uglanov
(c) 29 Apr 1929;
Scapegoat in temporary retreat from Collectivization ("Dizzy with Success")

Mar(?) 1930
1892- Oct 1937 Tried and shot
Sergej I.
Syrtsov [Syrcov]
Stalin 16th Congress
(c) 12 Jul 1930;
Agitated against dictatorship, economic policies

C.C. and C.C.C. decision
expelled 1 Dec 1930
? - ca 1938? Secretly repressed, 1937-38?
Pavel Petrovich
Postyshev
Stalin (p).
17th Congress
(c) 20 Feb 1934
CC Plenary Session
expelled Jan 1938
1887- 22 Feb 1939 Executed
Andrej Aleksandrovich
Zhdanov
Stalin (p).
CC Plenary Session
(c) 1 Feb 1935
18th Congress
(f) 22 Mar 1939
death (1948) 26 Feb 1896- 31 Aug 1948 natural
Robert Ivanovich
Eikhe [E^ixe]
Stalin (p).
CC Plenary Session
(c) 1 Feb 1935
1938 1897-1940 Died in prison
Nikolaj Ivanovich
Ezhov
Stalin (p).

NKVD
Oct 1937 (c) 1939 1895-1940 Executed
Nikita Sergeevich
Khrushchev [Xrushchev]
Stalin (p). CC plenary session
(c) Jan 1938
18th Congress
(f)22 Mar 1939
Successful coup

1964
5 Apr 1894- 11 Sep 1971
Lavrentij Pavlovich
Beriya
Stalin (p).

NKVD
18th Congress
(c) 22 Mar 1939
CC plenary session
(f)Mar 1946
Coup orchestrated by N.S. Khrushchov

CC plenary session
expelled Jul 1953
29 Mar 1899- Dec 1953 shot
Nikolaj Mixajlovich
Shvernik
Stalin (p). 18th Congress
(c) 22 Mar 1939
19th Congress
(f)16 Oct 1952
CC plenary session
(f)Jun 1957
dropped to candidate 1953-1957.
1966
7 May 1888- 24 Dec 1970


Some later Stalinist Politburo full members include:

In October 1952, the Politburo was superseded by a new "Presidium" of similar importance, with a greatly expanded membership (25 full members, 10 candidates). Some, including N.S. Khrushchov, would later speculate that that Great Leader and Teacher intended the new members as a reserve, to replace older members marked for repression. After the Great Leader and Teacher's death, a much smaller Presidium was confirmed on 6 Mar 1953.

Below are listed additional Presidium members from 1953-58.

[Nominations to the expanded Presidium of Oct 1952 are ignored, unless they were confirmed in March 1953. Nominations in 1952 marked as "candidate" with an asterisk * actually were "full" nominations to the expanded 1952 Presidium, but confirmed in March 1953 only as "candidate."


View the 1937 Politburo.

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