Ilya Mayorov Statesman and party figure. Country: Russia

1. Early Life and Political Involvement
2. Return to Kazan and Political Activism
3. Role in the October Revolution
4. Post-October Revolution: Agrarian Policy and Party Leadership
5. Opposition to the Bolsheviks and Imprisonment
6. Later Life, Executions, and Rehabilitation

Early Life and Political Involvement

Ilya Andreevich Mayorov was born in 1891 into a peasant family in the village of Gordeevo, Kazan province. He joined the Socialist Revolutionary (SR) party during the 1905-07 Revolution and studied law at Kazan University. In 1914, he was arrested for his involvement in the Kazan SR organization and exiled to Siberia for three years.

Return to Kazan and Political Activism

After the February Revolution of 1917, Mayorov returned to Kazan. He was elected to the Soviet of Peasants' Deputies and became the chairman of the Sviyazhsky district zemstvo committee. As chairman, he advocated for the immediate seizure of land from landlords and the establishment of Soviets at all levels of government. He also emphasized the need for unity between peasants and workers.

Role in the October Revolution

Mayorov played a key role in the establishment of Soviet power in Kazan. He was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly and a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Left SR party. He was also involved in drafting the fundamental law on land socialization, which Lenin described as the "first law in the world to abolish all private ownership of land."

Post-October Revolution: Agrarian Policy and Party Leadership

After the October Revolution, Mayorov became a member of the Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the RSFSR. He participated in the 2nd Congress of the Left SR party, where he advocated for a revision of the party's agrarian program. He also emphasized the importance of expropriating non-laboring farms and promoting collective farming.

Opposition to the Bolsheviks and Imprisonment

Mayorov joined the Central Committee of the Left SR party and became involved in their efforts to sabotage the Brest-Litovsk peace treaty. After the suppression of the Left SR uprising in Moscow, he continued to support the party's policies from his base in Kazan. He was eventually arrested and sentenced to three years in prison for participating in a counter-revolutionary conspiracy.

Later Life, Executions, and Rehabilitation

After his release from prison, Mayorov was exiled several times and worked as an economist. He married Maria Spiridonova, a fellow Left SR leader. In 1937, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 1941, he was executed. However, he was posthumously rehabilitated in 1990.