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Alexander ZhilinskyRevolutionary, printer, participant in the October Revolution
Date of Birth: 10.11.1884
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Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Revolutionary Activity
- Return to Perm and Military Service
- Typographical Work in the Urals
- Revolution and Civil War in the Urals
- Post-Revolutionary Period
- Arrest, Conviction, and Execution
- Rehabilitation
- Family
Alexander Nikolaevich Zhilinsky: A Revolutionary, Typographer, and Party Leader
Early Life and Education
Alexander Nikolaevich Zhilinsky was born on November 10, 1884, in the city of Perm, Russia. His father, Nikolai Stanislavovich, was a skilled worker in the Vyatka artisan guild and later became a steamboat engineer on the Kama River. His mother, Anna Antonovna, was a homemaker.
Zhilinsky completed his primary education at the Perm Three-Class Primary School in 1895. He began his working life as an apprentice in a printing house at the age of 11. From 1896 to 1903, he worked in Perm as a typesetter's apprentice and later as a typesetter.
Revolutionary Activity
In 1902, Zhilinsky joined a revolutionary circle led by Comrade Trapeznikov. He moved to St. Petersburg in 1903 and continued his work in the typographical sector. From 1903 to 1906, he worked as a typesetter at the Brockhaus-Efron printing house and for several newspapers, including "Syn otechestva" (Organ of the Socialist-Revolutionaries) and "Nasha zhizn" (Organ of the Social Democrats).
In 1904, Zhilinsky was elected as the foreman of the Brockhaus-Efron printing house. He actively participated in the revolutionary movement and was accepted into the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) in St. Petersburg.
In 1905, Zhilinsky played a key role in organizing the Union of Workers in the Printing Industry (Workers' Printing Cooperative) under the leadership of A. A. Simanovsky and I. Golinsky. He actively participated in strikes by printing workers and in the organization and seizure of printing houses to print the Petrograd Council newspaper, "Izvestia rabochikh i soldatskikh deputatov" (Nos. 1-7).
After the "Bloody Sunday" incident, Zhilinsky was arrested twice but was released due to lack of evidence. He was placed under constant surveillance by the authorities.
Return to Perm and Military Service
In 1906, Zhilinsky returned to Perm and continued working in printing houses until he was conscripted into the Russian Imperial Army in November 1906. He served as a cannoneer in St. Petersburg from November 1906 to June 1907.
Upon his return to Perm in July 1907, Zhilinsky resumed working as a typesetter in local printing houses. In 1907, he participated in revolutionary circles organized by K. T. Sverdlov and Aleksandr Minkin and was involved in the establishment of an underground printing house.
Typographical Work in the Urals
From 1908 to 1910, Zhilinsky worked as a typesetter in various printing houses in Vyatka, Verkhoturye, and Perm. He also participated in the operation of underground printing presses and produced illegal newspapers and brochures. In 1910, he relocated to Yekaterinburg, where he spent most of his life.
Revolution and Civil War in the Urals
After the overthrow of the tsarist government in February 1917, Zhilinsky participated in the organization of the RSDLP (b) committee in Yekaterinburg. He was elected a member of the Yekaterinburg Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik) and served as a member of the Public Security Committee. He also played a key role in organizing the Council of Workers' Deputies and was a member of its executive committee.
Zhilinsky actively participated in the October Revolution in Yekaterinburg. He became the head of the Housing Commissariat. Following the establishment of the Ural Soviet Republic, he was appointed editor of the official newspaper, "Uralskaya Pravda."
In 1918, Zhilinsky served in the Red Army from the beginning of the war until the disbandment of the 3rd Army of the Eastern Front. After the capture of Yekaterinburg by the White Army, Zhilinsky led a detachment of 123 men to the Ural Mountains, where they joined the 3rd Army. He was appointed as the army's treasurer.
He also held the positions of Chief of Supply for the Special Shock Division and Chief of the Barrier Detachment of the 29th Division. Based on a decision by the Dzerzhinsky and Stalin Commission, which investigated the reasons for the fall of Perm, Zhilinsky was recalled to Yekaterinburg in January 1919 to serve as the garrison commander and commandant of the city.
In April 1919, Zhilinsky was appointed as the commandant of the Vyatka-Slobodskoy fortified region and the commandant of the city of Glazov. He was awarded a nickel watch inscribed with "To the Honorable Warrior of the Workers' and Peasants' Army, Comrade Zhilinsky."
He subsequently served as commandant of Perm in July 1919, Yekaterinburg from July 1919 to March 1920, Kamyshlov from October 14 to 29, 1919, and Talitsa in December 1919. Zhilinsky also served as the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Fight against Typhus Fever.
Post-Revolutionary Period
After the end of the Civil War in 1920, Zhilinsky held various positions in the Soviet government and economy. He was a member of the Presidium of the Ural Regional Executive Committee for the management of state farms. He also served as the chairman of the board of URALKNIGA in 1924 and as the manager of the regional office of Masloexport in 1925.
From 1925 to 1930, Zhilinsky was appointed as the manager of URALPOLYGRAFTRUST. He played a pivotal role in the construction of the House of Press and the establishment of the largest printing house in the Urals, "Granit."
Zhilinsky was a member of the Presidium of the Ural Soviet of National Economy from 1930 to 1932 and held management positions in various enterprises related to heavy industry.
Arrest, Conviction, and Execution
On January 21, 1937, Zhilinsky was arrested as part of Stalin's Great Purge. He was expelled from the Communist Party by the Kaganovich Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) on February 11, 1937, and by the Sverdlovsk City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) on April 2, 1937.
On May 4, 1937, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union sentenced Zhilinsky to death by firing squad. He was executed on December 29, 1956.
Rehabilitation
Zhilinsky was posthumously rehabilitated on December 29, 1956. On March 5, 1957, the bureau of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union overturned the decision of the Sverdlovsk City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) to expel Zhilinsky from the party.
Family
Zhilinsky was married to Evdokia Alekseevna Filatova, and they had three children: A. A. Antropova (Zhilinskaya), E. A. Zhilinsky, and A. A. Zhilinsky (adopted).
