N. A. (Nestor Apollonovich) Lakoba papers, 1915-1939

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Summary

Creators:
Stalin, Joseph, 1878-1953 and Lakoba, N. A. (Nestor Apollonovich), 1893-1936
Abstract:
Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba (1893-1936) papers document life and activities of the politician, revolutionary, party and government official, and victim of the purges.
Extent:
3 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box (1.6 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], N. A. (Nestor Apollonovich) Lakoba papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba (1893-1936) papers document life and activities of the politician, revolutionary, party and government official, and victim of the purges.

A Caucasian revolutionary before 1917, Nestor Lakoba was appointed chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Abkhaziian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, and from 1930 to 1936 was chairman of the Central Executive Committee of that republic. He served on the Central Executive Committee of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, the Central Executive Committee of the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Bureau of the Party Central Committee in Georgia. Since 1917 he was personally acquainted with his fellow Caucasians Joseph Stalin and Lavrentii Beriia. Both later considered him their personal enemy. Majority of people believe he was poisoned by Beriia's agents. He was given a state funeral, but posthumously declared an enemy of the people.

The bulk of the collection is hand written letters between Nestor Lakoba and the leaders of the Russian revolution and high ranking Soviet government officials such as Joseph Stalin, Feliks Dzerzhinskii, Lavrentii Beriia, Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and many others. Correspondence includes letters of both a business and personal nature arranged chronologically.

Photographic series contains a huge bulk of very unique and unknown prints of Soviet leaders, such as Joseph Stalin, Feliks Dzerzhinskii, Lavrentii Beriia, Sergo Orgdzhonikidze, Mikhail Kalinin, Semen Budennyi, as well as Stalin's children Svetlana and Vasilii.

Documentation in the Speeches and Writings includes drafts, notes, sayings, verses, theses, speeches, and final published articles as well as other materials relating to his public life.

Of particular interest is the Biographical file with different versions of autobiographies and curriculum vitae, as well as other materials reflecting his early years in Georgia in general and in Abkhaziia in particular.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1893 May 1
Born, Village of Lykhny, Abkhaziia
1910-1911
Studied at the seminary in Tiflis, Georgia
1912
Became a member of the Russian Social Democratic party
1912-1918
Worked for the Russian Social Democratic party in Abkhaziia and Groznyi
1918
Deputy chairman of the Sukhumi Military Revolutionary Committee (Georgia); organized detachments of partisan forces for combat during the Russian Civil War
Led the uprising against the Menshevik-dominated government of Abkhaziia
Late 1918
Arrested and imprisoned in Sukhumi, Georgia
1919
Banished from Georgia
1920
Took control of the underground Bolshevik organization in the city of Batumi (Georgia)
1921
Assistant chairman of the Revolutionary Committee in Abkhaziia
1922
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Abkhaziian ASSR
1930-1936
Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of Abkhaziia; served on the Central Executive Committee of the Georgian SSR, the Central Executive Committee of the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR and the Bureau of the Party Central Committee in Georgia. He was personally acquainted with his fellow Caucasians Joseph Stalin and Lavrentii Beriia
1936 December 28
Died unexpectedly. Lakoba had an honorable burial, but was later declared an "enemy of the people"
Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 2003
Arrangement:

The collection is organized into five series: Biographical file, Correspondence, Speeches and Writings, Subject file, and Photographs

Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], N. A. (Nestor Apollonovich) Lakoba papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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