Sergei Sedov
Encyclopedia
Sergei Lvovich Sedov was Leon Trotsky
's younger son by his second wife, Natalia Sedova
, and an engineer. He was killed in the Great Purges.
Sedov was a Moscow
-based engineer who published works on thermodynamics and diesel engines. He became a professor at the Moscow Institute of Technology while still in his twenties.
Unlike his parents and his older brother Lev Sedov, Sergei Sedov was not active in politics. Nevertheless, he was caught up in the Great Purges as Trotsky's son. He was arrested in Moscow
in early 1935 and sentenced to 5 years in exile in Krasnoyarsk
, Siberia
, in August 1935. After unsuccessfully searching for work in Krasnoyarsk (his letters to his wife from this period are in the Hoover Archives
), he was re-arrested in 1936 and sent to a labor camp
.
Sedov was killed in the next round of Stalin's purges in 1937, although the exact details of his death are unknown. The Soviet secret police, NKVD
, announced in early 1937 that Sedov had been charged with trying to poison factory workers and the date of his final death sentence is believed to be October 29, 1937, but there have also been unconfirmed reports that he died in a prison uprising. His wife and her relatives were also arrested and spent years in exile and prisons.
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....
's younger son by his second wife, Natalia Sedova
Natalia Sedova
Natalia Ivanovna Sedova is best known as the second wife of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary. She was, however, also an active revolutionary in her own right and wrote on cultural matters pertaining to Marxism...
, and an engineer. He was killed in the Great Purges.
Sedov was a Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
-based engineer who published works on thermodynamics and diesel engines. He became a professor at the Moscow Institute of Technology while still in his twenties.
Unlike his parents and his older brother Lev Sedov, Sergei Sedov was not active in politics. Nevertheless, he was caught up in the Great Purges as Trotsky's son. He was arrested in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
in early 1935 and sentenced to 5 years in exile in Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarsk is a city and the administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located on the Yenisei River. It is the third largest city in Siberia, with the population of 973,891. Krasnoyarsk is an important junction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and one of Russia's largest producers of...
, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, in August 1935. After unsuccessfully searching for work in Krasnoyarsk (his letters to his wife from this period are in the Hoover Archives
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
), he was re-arrested in 1936 and sent to a labor camp
Labor camp
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons...
.
Sedov was killed in the next round of Stalin's purges in 1937, although the exact details of his death are unknown. The Soviet secret police, NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, announced in early 1937 that Sedov had been charged with trying to poison factory workers and the date of his final death sentence is believed to be October 29, 1937, but there have also been unconfirmed reports that he died in a prison uprising. His wife and her relatives were also arrested and spent years in exile and prisons.
External links
- Short review of Sedov's letters by Brad Bauer of the Hoover Archives
- An article on the Moscow Trials quoting Russian historian Vadim RogovinVadim RogovinVadim Zakharovich Rogovin was a Russian Marxist historian and sociologist, Ph.D. in philosophy, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, an author of the 6-volume study of Stalin era between 1923 and 1940, with the emphasis on the Trotskyist...
's interview with Sedov's brother-in-law - Short biography in Russian