January 24, 2000

Who Killed Kirov?


Who Killed Kirov?

The first question may well be, who was Kirov? Born Sergei Kostrikov, in 1886, Kirov became a journalist and revolutionary. No stranger to the pre-1917 prison camps and loyal to the peoples' cause, Kirov was murdered in 1934; by whom?

In 1912, Sergei changed his last name to Kirov to mask his identity. He took the name Kir from the ancient Persian warrior - king that he had read about as a child. Kir is the Hebrew translation of the city name, Der; from the Akkadian which means wall or fortress. Kir was a Mesopotamian city east of the lower Tigris, on the main road from Elam (Persia) to Babylon. During the neo-babylonian period (606-539BC), Kir was the capital of the province of Gutium. The governor of this province joined Cyrus of Persia in the overthrow of the Babylonian empire in 539 BC.

Sergei Kirov's murder, on December 1, 1934, became the catalyst for Stalin's Great Terror. Russia of the mid to late 1930's was characterized by Stalin's show trials an brutal purges of anyone perceived to be less than loyal and/or a threat to the absolute authority of the soviet. Stalin needed and excuse to go after his enemies; namely Leon Trotsky and the so called Trotskyists terrorist element. Trotsky's opinions of the current condition of the Soviet Union are best displayed in his 1936 paper, Revolution Betrayed.

Sergei KirovKirov was one of the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution. His first post-revolution assignment was as a Soviet leader in the province of Tver and, later, the North Caucasus. Kirov became the Secretary of the Central Committee, Azerbaijan, from 1922 - 1925. Eventually, he was assigned to the post of Party boss in Leningrad (St. Petersburg).

Sergei Kirov had served as a member of the Politburo and was a champion for the welfare of workers. He was a talented public speaker which made him very popular with the people. While Kirov did disagree with some of Stalin's practices, he really did not pose a threat to Stalin's power. He was a favorite companion of Stalin and his young daughter, Svetlana. Stalin's sister-in-law wrote of Stalin's intense grief over the death of Kirov.

Kirov's murder is believed to have been carried out by a man named Leonid Nikolaev. But, who ordered the hit or did Nikolaev act purely on his own volition? Or, was Nikolaev merely a patsy, much like Lee Harvey Oswald is believed, by many, to have been to the Kennedy assassination? The mystery of who killed Kirov was on the mind of Russia premier, Nikita Khrushechev in 1961. While speaking at the Twenty-second Party Congress, Khrushchev stated that the government must commit itself to finding out, beyond doubt, who was responsible for the death of Sergei Kirov.

Regardless of who ordered Kirov's murder, the result was a four and a half year purge and the execution of countless people. Kirov's murder was displayed, by the Soviet, as the ultimate crime against the nation. Anyone suspected of disloyalty or mere complacency was subject to a mock trial and immediate death. Stalin promoted his Great Terror with a passion. By 1939, 98 of the 139 central committee members had been executed and roughly 1,100 of the 1,966 17th Congress delegation was in prison. Millions more died in the gulags or at the hands of Stalin's secret police force. Stalin emerged as a demigod with absolute power and ability.

The Book . . .

Who Killed Kirov?
In her book, Amy Knight presents an exciting new analysis of the crime of the century, the assassination of Stalin's greatest rival. On December 4, 1934, the Red Arrow chugged from Leningrad through the freezing dawn to Moscow's October Railway Station. Inside was a coffin containing the bullet-scarred body of Sergei Kirov, former Leningrad Party Chief, Politburo member, and prize orator of the Stalin regime. Kirov's murder, allegedly by a lone gunman, sparked the brutal purges that characterized the Stalin regime, and speculation about it still fascinates the Russians, much as the Kennedy assassination fascinates Americans.

Amy Knight, a research associate at the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University, is the author of Spies Without Cloaks: The KGB's Successors and Beria: Stalin's First Lieutenant. She lives in McLean, Virginia.

Excerpts from Who Killed Kirov?

More on the Topic

Moscow Trials: 1936
Treason trial transcripts of Trotsky followers and former comrades of Stalin, Gregory Zinovyev, Lev Kamenev and others.

Revolution Betrayed
Complete on-line text of Leon Trotsky's extensive work which addresses the question, What is the Soviet Union and where is it going? Written in 1936, published in 1937; in English.

Sergei Kirov House and Museum
Kirov's last home, in St. Petersburg, now a museum, open to the public. Page offers brief description, address, phone number and hours.


Kirov image, Funet Russian Archives

Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Fish: A History of One Migration

Fish: A History of One Migration

This mesmerizing novel from one of Russia’s most important modern authors traces the life journey of a selfless Russian everywoman. In the wake of the Soviet breakup, inexorable forces drag Vera across the breadth of the Russian empire. Facing a relentless onslaught of human and social trials, she swims against the current of life, countering adversity and pain with compassion and hope, in many ways personifying Mother Russia’s torment and resilience amid the Soviet disintegration.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
The Little Golden Calf

The Little Golden Calf

Our edition of The Little Golden Calf, one of the greatest Russian satires ever, is the first new translation of this classic novel in nearly fifty years. It is also the first unabridged, uncensored English translation ever, and is 100% true to the original 1931 serial publication in the Russian journal 30 Dnei. Anne O. Fisher’s translation is copiously annotated, and includes an introduction by Alexandra Ilf, the daughter of one of the book’s two co-authors.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

Life Stories: Original Fiction By Russian Authors

The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955