Alexei Rykov

Alexei Rykov (1881-1938), the son of peasants, was born in 1881. He joined the Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) at the age of 20 and supported the Bolsheviks after the split with the Mensheviks in 1903. Rykov worked as a Bolshevik agent in Moscow and St. Petersburg and played an active role in the 1905 Revolution.

Rykov resented the dictatorial style of Vladimir Lenin and in 1910 he broke with the Bolsheviks. He became a leading member of the Moscow Soviet and called for a left-wing coalition to be formed in Russia.

In September, 1917, Rykov was invited to join the Bolshevik Central Committee and the Petrograd Soviet. The following month he was appointed to the Military Revolutionary Committee in Moscow.

Despite his differences with Vladimir Lenin, Rykov was appointed Commissar of the Interior (1917-18), Chairman of the Supreme Council of National Economy (1918-20) and Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1921-24) and Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1924-29).

Rykov supported Joseph Stalin, Nikolay Bukharin and Mikhail Tomsky against Leon Trotsky. In 1929 Stalin turned against the right-wing of the party and Rykov was removed for all posts.

In 1938 Rykov Nikolay Bukharin, Genrikh Yagoda, Nikolai Krestinsky and Christian Rakovsky were arrested and accused of being involved with Leon Trotsky in a plot against Joseph Stalin. Found guilty Alexei Rykov was executed on 15 March, 1938.