Timofei Sapronov
Encyclopedia
Timofei Vladimirovich Sapronov (1887–1939) was a Russian revolutionary, Old Bolshevik
and socialist militant.
Whilst working as a house painter Sapronov joined the Bolshevik
faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
in 1912. He was active during the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War
in the Moscow Provincial Soviet. Sapronov was a left communist of the Bukharin group in 1918. Shortly afterwards, with other Moscow Communist Party left-wingers Vladimir Smirnov and V. Osinsky, he initiated the inner-party grouping known as the Group of Democratic Centralism
which presented its case at the Eighth Party Congress
in 1919 that 'the party should not impose its will on the soviets’. However it obtained only a derisory number of votes and was denounced as semi-syndicalist by Vladimir Lenin
.
The Democratic Centralists continued to campaign against the bureaucratic methods of the party throughout the early twenties as part of the so-called 1923 opposition. Despite this Sapronov remained a leading party figure and chairman of the Public Works Committee, a member of the Central Executive Committee and was a pall-bearer at Lenin's funeral. He along with co-thinkers Osinsky, Smirnov and Drobnis signed The Declaration of 46
and later adhered to the Left Opposition
, albeit as a separate grouping considered ulta-left within it. Sapronov helped lay the groundwork for the United Opposition
of the Trotskyist and Zinovite factions in 1926, but he and the former Democratic Centralists remained ultra-left declaring in the statement of the Group of 15 that the Soviet Union
was no longer a workers state and that capitalism had been restored. They also ‘denied the necessity for the defense of the Soviet Union’ according to Leon Trotsky
addressing the Dewey Commission
.
Sapronov was expelled from the party at the fifteenth Party Conference in December 1927 with the rest of the inner party opposition and was deported to the Crimea
. The circumstances of his capitulation to Joseph Stalin
in 1928 remain unclear but he was rearrested in 1932 and spent the rest of his life in prison, most notably in the notorious Verkhneuralsk
isolator
, where he was murdered in 1939.
Old Bolshevik
Old Bolshevik , also Old Bolshevik Guard or Old Party Guard, was an unofficial designation for those who were members of the Bolshevik party before the Russian Revolution of 1917, many of whom were either tried and executed by the NKVD during Stalin era purges or died under suspicious...
and socialist militant.
Whilst working as a house painter Sapronov joined the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party
The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , also known as Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party or Russian Social Democratic Party, was a revolutionary socialist Russian political party formed in 1898 in Minsk to unite the various revolutionary organizations into one party...
in 1912. He was active during the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
in the Moscow Provincial Soviet. Sapronov was a left communist of the Bukharin group in 1918. Shortly afterwards, with other Moscow Communist Party left-wingers Vladimir Smirnov and V. Osinsky, he initiated the inner-party grouping known as the Group of Democratic Centralism
Group of Democratic Centralism
The Group of Democratic Centralism, sometimes called the Group of 15, the Decists, or the Decemists, was a dissenting faction within the Soviet Communist Party in the early 1920s.The Group was formed in March 1919 at the 8th Party Congress...
which presented its case at the Eighth Party Congress
8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
The 8th Congress of the Russian Communist Party was held in Moscow 18 - 23 March, 1919.The Congress was attended by 301 voting delegates who represented 313,766 Party members...
in 1919 that 'the party should not impose its will on the soviets’. However it obtained only a derisory number of votes and was denounced as semi-syndicalist by Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
.
The Declaration of 46
The Declaration of 46 was a secret letter sent by a group of 46 leading Soviet communists to the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party on 15 October 1923...
and later adhered to the Left Opposition
Left Opposition
The Left Opposition was a faction within the Bolshevik Party from 1923 to 1927, headed de facto by Leon Trotsky. The Left Opposition formed as part of the power struggle within the party leadership that began with the Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin's illness and intensified with his death in January...
, albeit as a separate grouping considered ulta-left within it. Sapronov helped lay the groundwork for the United Opposition
United Opposition
The United Opposition was a group formed in the All-Union Communist Party in 1926 by Leon Trotsky, Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev in opposition to Joseph Stalin...
of the Trotskyist and Zinovite factions in 1926, but he and the former Democratic Centralists remained ultra-left declaring in the statement of the Group of 15 that the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
was no longer a workers state and that capitalism had been restored. They also ‘denied the necessity for the defense of the Soviet Union’ according to Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
addressing the Dewey Commission
Dewey Commission
The Dewey Commission was initiated in March 1937 by the "American Committee for the Defense of Leon Trotsky." It was named after its Chairman, John Dewey...
.
Sapronov was expelled from the party at the fifteenth Party Conference in December 1927 with the rest of the inner party opposition and was deported to the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
. The circumstances of his capitulation to Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
in 1928 remain unclear but he was rearrested in 1932 and spent the rest of his life in prison, most notably in the notorious Verkhneuralsk
Verkhneuralsk
Verkhneuralsk is a town and the administrative center of Verkhneuralsky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the upper streams of the Ural River, southwest of Chelyabinsk. Population:...
isolator
Isolator
Isolator may refer to:* Isolator , by Two Hours Traffic* Isolator switch, used in electrical circuits* Isolator a two-port device that transmits microwave power in one direction only...
, where he was murdered in 1939.