Felix Dzerzhinsky | |
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Dzerzhinsky in 1918
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Director of the OGPU | |
In office 15 November 1923 – 20 July 1926 |
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Premier |
Vladimir Lenin Alexei Rykov |
Preceded by | Himself as the Director of the GPU |
Succeeded by | Vyacheslav Menzhinsky |
Director of the GPU | |
In office 6 February 1922 – 15 November 1923 |
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Premier | Vladimir Lenin |
Preceded by | Himself as Director of the Cheka |
Succeeded by | Himself as Director of the OGPU |
Director of the Cheka | |
In office 20 December 1917 – 6 February 1922 |
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Premier | Vladimir Lenin |
Preceded by | Office created |
Succeeded by | Himself as Director of the GPU |
People's Commissariat of VSNKh | |
In office 2 February 1924 – 20 July 1926 |
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Premier | Alexei Rykov |
Preceded by | Alexei Rykov |
Succeeded by | Valerian Kuybyshev |
Candidate member of the 13th, 14th Politburo | |
In office 2 June 1924 – 20 July 1926 |
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Member of the 6th Secretariat | |
In office 6 August 1917 – 8 March 1918 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky 11 September [O.S. 30 August] 1877 Ivyanets, Ashmyany county, Vilna Governorate, Russian Empire |
Died | 20 July 1926 (aged 48) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
Political party | VKP(b) (1917–26) |
Other political affiliations |
SDKPiL (1900–17) LSDP (1896–00) SDKP (1895–96) |
Spouse(s) | Sofia Sigizmudovna Muszkat |
Children | Jan Feliksovich Dzerzhinsky |
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (Russian: Фе́ликс Эдму́ндович Дзержи́нский; Polish: Feliks Dzierżyński [ˈfɛlʲiks dʑerˈʐɨɲskʲi]; 11 September [O.S. 30 August] 1877 – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix, was a Polish and Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet statesman. His party pseudonyms were Yatsek, Yakub, Pereplyotchik (meaning "bookbinder"), Franek, Astronom, Yuzef and Domanski.
He was a member of several revolutionary committees such as the Polish Revkom as well as several Russian and Soviet official positions. Dzerzhinsky is best known for establishing and developing the Soviet secret police forces, serving as their director from 1917 to 1926. Later he was a member of the Soviet government heading several commissariats, while being the chief of the Soviet secret police. The Cheka soon became notorious for mass summary executions, performed especially during the Red Terror and the Russian Civil War.
Felix Dzerzhinsky was born on 11 September 1877 at the Dzerzhinovo family estate, about 15 km (9.3 mi) away from a small town of Ivyanets, in the Minsk Region, a part of the Russian Empire (today Belarus). His family belonged to the former Polish szlachta (nobility), of the Sulima coat of arms. As a child, before taking to Marxist ideology, Felix considered becoming a Jesuit priest. His sister Wanda died at the age of 12, when she was accidentally shot with a hunting rifle on the family estate by one of the brothers. At the time of the incident, there were conflicting claims as to whether Felix or his brother Stanisław was responsible for the accident.