Ivan Smirnov,
the son of a peasant farmer, was born
in Ryazan, Russia. The family moved to Moscow but his father soon
died and his mother worked as a domestic servant.
After a
brief formal education Smirnov found work in a local factory. In 1898
he was recruited into the Social Democratic Labour
Party by students in Moscow. The following year he was arrested
and deported to Siberia for five years.
Smirnov
escaped in 1900 and went to work in a tannery in Tver. He took part
in a strike in May, 1904, and this resulted in him being imprisoned.
Soon after his release he was involved in the 1905
Revolution and once again he was arrested and deported to Irkutsk.
He returned
to Moscow after his imprisonment but in 1909 he was arrested for distributing
illegal propaganda. Deported to Narym he escaped in 1913 and settled
in Kharkov. A few months later he was back in prison where he remained
until being forced to join the Russian Army
in 1916.
Once again
he escaped and returned to Moscow where he help organize the strikes
that led to the February Revolution. He
also joined the Executive Committee of Soldiers Deputies.
During
the Civil War Smirnov became a member
of the Fifth Army. After the defeat of Alexander
Kolchak he was made Chairman of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee.
However, his support of Leon Trotsky
resulted in him being ousted from power in 1922.
Smirnov
was an active member of the Left Opposition and in 1927 was expelled
from the Communist Party. In 1934 the new head of the NKVD,
Genrikh Yagoda, arrested Smirnov, Lev
Kamenev, Gregory Zinoviev, and thirteen
others and accused them of being involved with Leon
Trotsky in a plot to murder Joseph Stalin
and other party leaders. He was found guilty and executed in 1936.
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