Iona Yakir
| Iona Yakir | |
|---|---|
Iona Yakir
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| Birth name | Iona Emmanuilovich Yakir |
| Born |
August 3, 1896 Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russian Empire |
| Died | June 12, 1937 (aged 40) Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance |
 Russian SFSR Soviet Union
|
| Years of service | 1918–37 |
| Rank | Komandarm 1st rank |
| Unit | 45th Rifle Division, 58th Rifle Division, Ukrainian Military District, Kiev Military District, Leningrad Military District |
| Commands held | Ukrainian Military District, Kiev Military District, Leningrad Military District |
| Battles/wars | Russian Civil War, Polish-Soviet War |
| Awards | Order of the Red Banner (three times) |
| Signature |  |
Iona Emmanuilovich Yakir (Russian: Иона Эммануилович Якир; August 3, 1896 – June 12, 1937) was a Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II. He was an early and major military victim of the Great Purge, alongside Mikhail Tukhachevsky. He was rehabilitated in 1957 by Nikita Khrushchev.
Yakir was born in Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russian Empire, into the prosperous family of a Jewish pharmacist. He graduated from the local secondary school in 1914. Because of governmental restrictions on Jewish access to higher education, Yakir studied abroad at the University of Basel in Switzerland, in the field of chemistry. During World War I, he returned to the Russian Empire and worked as a turner in a military factory in Odessa, Ukraine (he was a reservist). From 1915 to 1917, he attended the Kharkiv Technological Institute. He was affected by the war and became a follower of Vladimir Lenin. In 1917, he returned to Kishinev, and in April became a member of the Bolshevik Party. He also became a member of the Bessarabian Governorate's Council, the Governorate's Committee and the Revolutionary Committee. From January 1918, he took active part in the Bolshevik seizure of power in Bessarabia. When Romania intervened to recapture Bessarabia, Yakir led Bolshevik resistance but his small force was overwhelmed by the regular Romanian army.
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