Bogdanov, Petr

Bogdanov, Petr Alekseevich 

Born May 20 (June 1), 1882; died May 12, 1939. Soviet state figure. Member of the Communist Party from 1905. Born in Moscow into a merchant family. Graduated from Moscow Higher Technical School (1909).

He participated in the illegal All-Russian Congress of Student Organizations in Finland in 1905. He was a member of the Voronezh committee of the RSDLP from late 1905, heading its fighting organization. During 1906–08 he worked in the Moscow fighting organization, was a member of the Moscow committee of the party, and directed the socialdemocratic student organizations of Moscow. He was repeatedly arrested.

After the February Revolution of 1917, he was chairman of the military section of the Gomel’ soviet, a member of the presidium of the executive committee of the soviet, chairman of the municipal duma; and chairman of the revolutionary committee. In October 1917 he was chairman of the Gomel’ revolutionary committee and a member of the presidium of the Soviet’s executive committee. In 1918 he was commissioner of the Supreme Soviet on the National Economy (VSNKh) for the nationalization of the chemical industry of the Urals and the North. He was a member of the board of the Chemical Industry Division of VSNKh from 1918 to 1921. From 1919 to 1925 he headed the Council (Central Administration) for Military Industry of VSNKh; and from 1920 he was chairman of the board of the Metals Division of VSNKh. He was chairman of the Supreme Soviet on the National Economy of the RSFSR from 1921 to 1925. From 1926 to 1929 Bogdanov was chairman of the Northern Caucasus Krai executive committee. He headed Amtorg (the Soviet trade organization in the USA) between 1930 and 1934. From 1935 to 1937 he was first deputy people’s commissar of local industry of the RSFSR. He was a delegate to the Eleventh through the Sixteenth Congresses of the Party, and at the Fifteenth Congress he was elected a member of the Central Auditing Commission of the ACP (Bolshevik). He was a member of the Central Executive Committee and the All-Union Central Executive Committee.