Social Democrat and oil-company director who became People's Commissar of Finance of Soviet Russia
Born in 1871 into a merchant family in Bălți, Bessarabia, he trained as a pharmacist. Jailed in 1899 for his part in the Izhora workers' strike, he was exiled to Yenisei Governorate and in 1901 joined the Krasnoyarsk committee of the RSDLP. In 1906 he was editorial secretary of Novaya Zhizn; later he left revolutionary work and managed oil companies. After the February Revolution of 1917 he became treasurer of the Bolshevik Petrograd Committee, and after the October Revolution he served as Deputy People's Commissar of Finance and then, from 21 March to 16 August 1918, as People's Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR. From 1920 he was envoy and trade representative in Estonia; in 1921 the Politburo referred his case to the Supreme Tribunal over his handling of funds, but he died of pneumonia before the trial.
Activities and affiliations
- 1918 Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Union state institutions · Economic management
- 1920–1921 Diplomacy and international organization · Soviet Union state institutions
- 1899– Economy, finance and planning · Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP)
- 1917–1921 Economy, finance and planning · Soviet Communist Party and Bolsheviks
Career Timeline
- 1901.11Member of the Krasnoyarsk committee of the RSDLP
- 1917Treasurer of the Bolshevik Petrograd Committee
- 1918.03.02Head of the Oil Commissariat
- 1918.03.21–1918.08.16People's Commissar of Finance of the RSFSR
- 1920–1921Plenipotentiary and trade representative in Estonia