Andrei Bubnov

Andrei Sergeyevich Bubnov (March 23, 1883 - January 12, 1940) was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader in Russia, and member of the Left Opposition.

Andrei Bubnov was born in Ivanovo-Voznesensk (now Ivanovo) on 23rd March 1883. He studied at the Moscow Agricultural Institute and while a student joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He supported the Bolshevik faction and over the next few years was arrested thirteen times.

In 1909 Bubnov was made an agent of the Central Committee in Moscow but the following year he was back in prison. On his release he was sent to organize workers in Nizhny Novgorod. He also contributed to Pravda.

On the outbreak of the First World War Bubnov became involved in the anti-war movement. He was arrested in October, 1916, and exiled to Siberia.

Bubnov returned to Moscow after the February Revolution. He joined the Moscow Soviet and was elected as one of the seven members of the Politburo. As a member of the Military Revolutionary Committee he helped organize the October Revolution.

During the Russian Civil War Bubnov joined the Red Army and fought on the Ukrainian Front. After the war he joined the Moscow Party Committee, and became a member of the Left Opposition.

Andrei Bubnov signed the Declaration of 46 in October 1923, but in January, 1924, he switched to supporting Stalin and was rewarded by being appointed as Head of Political Control of the Red Army. Elected to Central Committee he replaced Lunacharsky as People's Commissar for Education.

As Commissar for Education he ended the period of progressive, experimental educational practices and switched the emphasis to training in practical industrial skills.

He was expelled from the Party Central Committee in November 1937, arrested and perished in the Great Purge. Bubnov was posthumously rehabilitated.