Bronislava Poskrebysheva
Encyclopedia
Bronislava Solomonovna Metallikova - Poskrebysheva was born in Proskurov (USSR). She was the wife of Alexander Poskrebyshev
, Joseph Stalin
's personal assistant for many years.
Bronislava, a doctor-endocrinologist at the Research Institute of Endocrinology (Department of Health of Russian Federation), was of Jewish Lithuanian descent and previously married to a lawyer. She had two children, Galya by her first husband and Natalya by Alexander Poskrebyshev
.
In 1933 she and her brother, Professor Michael Metallikov, attended a scientific conference in Paris. There they met Leon Trotsky
, to whom they were connected through marriage. This meeting with Trotsky was a reason for the arrest of Metallikov on July 8, 1937 and for his execution on March 31, 1939. (He was posthumously rehabilitated
on March 7, 1956.) Bronislava, who at this time was pregnant with Natalya, was not arrested due to the intercession of her husband.
In 1939, under pressure from her relatives, she visited Lavrentiy Beria
alone to plead for the life of her arrested brother. This time, she was arrested. This time, her husband was unable to help. She was imprisoned, sentenced to death on September 22, 1941, shot on October 13, and buried in a mass grave near Moscow. She was posthumously rehabilitated
on October 10, 1957. She is commememorated at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow .
Her husband saved her daughters, and continued to work as Stalin's secretary until he was dismissed shortly before Stalin's death in 1953. Poskrebyshev was both "Father and Mother" to Galya and Natasha after his wife was arrested.
Alexander Poskrebyshev
Alexander Nikolaevich Poskrebyshev was a Soviet Major-General. USSR political, state and communist party functionary. Member of Soviet Communist Party since march 1917...
, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's personal assistant for many years.
Bronislava, a doctor-endocrinologist at the Research Institute of Endocrinology (Department of Health of Russian Federation), was of Jewish Lithuanian descent and previously married to a lawyer. She had two children, Galya by her first husband and Natalya by Alexander Poskrebyshev
Alexander Poskrebyshev
Alexander Nikolaevich Poskrebyshev was a Soviet Major-General. USSR political, state and communist party functionary. Member of Soviet Communist Party since march 1917...
.
In 1933 she and her brother, Professor Michael Metallikov, attended a scientific conference in Paris. There they met Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
, to whom they were connected through marriage. This meeting with Trotsky was a reason for the arrest of Metallikov on July 8, 1937 and for his execution on March 31, 1939. (He was posthumously rehabilitated
Rehabilitation (Soviet)
Rehabilitation in the context of the former Soviet Union, and the Post-Soviet states, was the restoration of a person who was criminally prosecuted without due basis, to the state of acquittal...
on March 7, 1956.) Bronislava, who at this time was pregnant with Natalya, was not arrested due to the intercession of her husband.
In 1939, under pressure from her relatives, she visited Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was a Georgian Soviet politician and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years ....
alone to plead for the life of her arrested brother. This time, she was arrested. This time, her husband was unable to help. She was imprisoned, sentenced to death on September 22, 1941, shot on October 13, and buried in a mass grave near Moscow. She was posthumously rehabilitated
Rehabilitation (Soviet)
Rehabilitation in the context of the former Soviet Union, and the Post-Soviet states, was the restoration of a person who was criminally prosecuted without due basis, to the state of acquittal...
on October 10, 1957. She is commememorated at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow .
Her husband saved her daughters, and continued to work as Stalin's secretary until he was dismissed shortly before Stalin's death in 1953. Poskrebyshev was both "Father and Mother" to Galya and Natasha after his wife was arrested.