Ordzhonikidze, Grigory Konstantinovich

Ordzhonikidze, Grigory Konstantinovich

▪ Soviet government official
byname  Sergo  
born Oct. 12 [Oct. 24, New Style], 1886, Goresha, Russia
died Feb. 18, 1937, Moscow

      communist leader who played a major role in bringing Georgia under Soviet rule and in industrializing the Soviet Union.

      Having joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1903, Ordzhonikidze was active in the revolutionary movement, becoming a member of the party's central committee (1912). In April 1912, however, he was arrested for the third time. He resumed his activities only after the imperial Russian government had been overthrown (February 1917) and he had returned from exile in Siberia.

      Ordzhonikidze then became a member of both the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet (the revolutionary council of workers and soldiers that rivaled the authority of the provisional government) and of the Bolshevik Party committee. After the Bolsheviks seized power (October 1917), he became commissar extraordinary for the Ukraine area (1918), a member of his party's Central Committee (1921), and chairman of the Central Committee's Caucasian bureau (1921). Despite Vladimir Lenin's objections to his brutal methods (which were approved by Joseph Stalin (Stalin, Joseph)) and the opposition of the local communist organizations, Ordzhonikidze helped the Red Army conquer Georgia, then merged Georgia with Armenia and Azerbaijan to create the Transcaucasian Federal Republic, which in turn, was compelled to join Russia, Belorussia, and Ukraine to form the Soviet Union (December 1922).

      During the intraparty power struggles of the mid-1920s, Ordzhonikidze generally supported Stalin. Although he incurred the hostility of Lavrenty Beria, who as chief of the secret police in Transcaucasia forced him to transfer to the northern Caucasus (1926), Ordzhonikidze nevertheless advanced in 1926 to become a candidate member of the Central Committee's Politburo, chairman of the party's central control commission, which was responsible for eliminating dissension among party members, and commissar for worker-peasant inspection. In 1930 he became a full member of the Politburo.

      Having helped organize the development of Soviet industry during the First Five-Year Plan (1928–32), Ordzhonikidze became commissar for heavy industry in 1932. During the mid-1930s he opposed Stalin's industrial policy and displayed his disapproval of Stalin's terroristic rule. Although Ordzhonikidze's sudden death in 1937 was officially attributed to natural causes, Nikita Khrushchev later charged (1956) that Stalin had driven Ordzhonikidze to commit suicide.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Ordzhonikidze, Grigory (Konstantinovich) — born Oct. 24, 1886, Goresha, Russia died Feb. 18, 1937, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R. Russian communist leader. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he became chairman of the Caucasian bureau (1921) and helped the Red Army conquer Georgia, forcing… …   Universalium

  • Konstantinovich — (as used in expressions) Glazunov Aleksandr Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze Grigory Konstantinovich Plehve Vyacheslav Konstantinovich Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich Tolstoy Aleksey Konstantinovich Count Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich * * * …   Universalium

  • Grigory — (as used in expressions) Ordzhonikidze Grigory Konstantinovich Orlov Grigory Grigoryevich Count Potemkin Grigory Aleksandrovich Rasputin Grigory Yefimovich Grigory Yefimovich Novykh Zinovyev Grigory Yevseyevich * * * …   Universalium

  • Sergó Ordzhonikidze — Para otros usos de este término, véase Ordzhonikidze (desambiguación). Sergo Ordzhonikidze Grigory Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze (georgiano: გრიგოლ (სერგო) ორჯონიკიძე Grigol (Sergo) Orjonikidze, ruso: Григорий Константинович Орджоникидзе),… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Georgia — /jawr jeuh/, n. 1. a state in the SE United States. 5,464,265; 58,876 sq. mi. (152,489 sq. km). Cap.: Atlanta. Abbr.: GA (for use with zip code), Ga. 2. Also called Georgian Republic. a republic in Transcaucasia, bordering on the Black Sea, N of… …   Universalium

  • Ορτζονικίτζε, Γρηγόριος Κωνσταντίνοβιτς — (Grigory Konstantinovich Ordzhonikidze, 1886 – 1937). Σοβιετικός πολιτικός. Οπαδός του Λένιν, πήρε δραστήρια μέρος στην επανάσταση του Καυκάσου (1905 1907). Για την επαναστατική του δράση συνελήφθη πολλές φορές από τη τσαρική αστυνομία και… …   Dictionary of Greek

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