Grigori Yevdokimov

Grigori Ermeevich Yevdokimov (; October 1884 – 25 August 1936) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet politician.

Early career and Revolution Yevdokimov was born in Pavlodar, in what was then the Semipalatinsk province, in modern day Kazakhstan. His father is described as a Russian tradesman. At 15, he began work as a sailor on a river vessel. He joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party since 1903. |

In 1920–23, Yevdokimov was chairman of the Petrograd Council of Trade Unions. In 1923, he was again elected to the Central Committee, and appointed Deputy Chairman of the Petrograd Soviet.

The Opposition During the power struggle that followed the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924, Yevdokimov backed Grigory Zinoviev against Leon Trotsky, and then against Joseph Stalin. In January 1925, he backed a resolution proposed by another Zinoviev supporter, Pyotr Zalutsky to expel Trotsky from the communist party, and when this was blocked by Stalin and others, he complained that they were "too soft".

After the unification of the supporters of Leon Trotsky and Grigory Zinoviev, which took place in the spring of 1926, Yevdokimov became an active participant in the "United Opposition." He was removed from his positions as a party secretary and member of the Orgburo on 9 April 1926. On 14 November 1927 he was expelled from the Central Committee, along with all the others of that body who were backing the opposition, while Trotsky and Zinoviev were expelled from the party, and he was one of 75 members of the Left Opposition expelled from the party during the 15th Party Congress in December 1927.

In 1928, Yevdokimov joined Zinoviev and his other former supporters in renouncing the opposition and appealing for reinstatement. He was readmitted to the party and given a minor post managing the dairy industry.

Arrest and execution Police raided Yevdokimov's apartment on 8 December 1934, eight days after the assassination of Sergei Kirov, and found numerous documents and leaflets dating from his time as an active oppositionist. He claimed that they belonged to his son-in-law. He was arrested that same day, and was expelled from the communist party a week later. On 15–16 January, he was one of 19 defendants put on trial in Leningrad, accused of running a conspiratorial 'Moscow Centre'. During this trial, he emphatically denied any involvement in Kirov's assassination. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.