Pavel Poltoratskiy

Pavel Gerasimovich Poltoratskiy (c. 1888, Novocherkassk – 21 July 1918) (Russian: Павел Герасимович Полторацкий) was a Bolshevik revolutionary. He served as People's Commissar for Labor in the early Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic and as editor of the daily newspaper Sovetskiy Turkmenistan.^[1][2]

Poltoratskiy worked as a typesetter. He became active as a revolutionary in Rostov-on-Don and Baku, but was imprisoned in 1913. In 1917 he became chairman of the Soviet established in Kogon, Uzbekistan. He was sent as a delegate to the First All-Russian Congress of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies' Soviets.^[1] According to another source, he was also a railroad worker.^[2]

Career

Poltoratskiy traveled from Tashkent to Merv, arriving 13 July 1918, leading a small group of revolutionaries. He was soon taken captive by the Transcaspian Government which had recently been formed by Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries. He was executed by firing squad near a brickyard in Merv on 21 July 1918.^[1][2]

Legacy

From 17 July 1919 until 27 October 1927 the capital city of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, was named Poltoratsk in his honor.^[1][2]

References

1. Клычев, Анна-Мухамед (1976). Ашхабад (in Russian). Ashgabat: Издательство "Туркменистан".
2. Скосырев, П. (1948). "Ашхабад--столица Советского Туркменистана". In Михайлова, Н.Н. (ed.). Туркменистан. Наша Родина (in Russian). Moscow: Молодая гвардия.