48 Facts About Nestor Lakoba

Nestor Apollonovich Lakoba was an Abkhaz communist leader.

Nestor Lakoba successfully opposed the extension of collectivization of Abkhazia, though in return Nestor Lakoba was forced to accept a downgrade of Abkhazia's status to that of an autonomous republic within the Georgian SSR.

Nestor Lakoba was born in the village of Lykhny, in what was then the Sukhum Okrug of the Kutais Governorate in the Russian Empire to a peasant family.

Nestor Lakoba's mother remarried twice, but both husbands died while Nestor Lakoba was young.

From ages 10 to 12 Nestor Lakoba attended a parish school in New Athos, followed by a further two years of schooling in Lykhny.

Nestor Lakoba entered the Tiflis Seminary in 1905, but he was not interested in its religious syllabus.

Nestor Lakoba read banned books and was frequently caught doing so by the school authorities.

Nestor Lakoba became involved with disseminating propaganda amongst the workers and peasants in the city and throughout Adjara, the local region, and began to refine his ability to relate to the masses.

Nestor Lakoba continued studying in Grozny, passing his examinations in 1915, and the following year enrolled in law at Kharkov University in what is Ukraine, but the onset of the First World War and its subsequent effect on Abkhazia led him to quit his studies and return home after only a short time.

Back in Abkhazia, Nestor Lakoba took up a position in the Gudauta region helping to build a railway to Russia, while continuing to spread Bolshevik propaganda to the workers.

Nestor Lakoba's reputation was enhanced throughout Abkhazia by helping to establish "Kiaraz", a peasant brigade that would later help consolidate Bolshevik control.

Nestor Lakoba was the leading Bolshevik in Abkhazia when the Revolution began in 1917.

Nestor Lakoba was captured by the Mensheviks during this time and imprisoned in Sukhumi, but released early in 1919 due to public opposition.

Nestor Lakoba led several operations near Batumi that hindered the ability of the White movement in the Caucasus, further improving his image amongst the Bolshevik leadership.

The family was close, with Nestor Lakoba helping his wife get an education, and providing the same to Rauf as well.

Nestor Lakoba returned to Abkhazia in 1921, after it had been occupied by Bolshevik Russia, as part of its conquest of Georgia.

The Revkom resigned on 17 February 1922, and Nestor Lakoba was unanimously elected the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, a body that was formed that day, thus effectively the head of Abkhazia.

Nestor Lakoba would hold this post until 17 April 1930, when the council was abolished and replaced by a Presidium of the Central Executive Committee, though Lakoba would retain the top position.

Uncontested as the leader of Abkhazia, Nestor Lakoba had such control that it was jokingly referred to as 'Lakobistan'.

Long a friend of several leading Bolsheviks, including Sergo Orjonikidze, Sergei Kirov, and Lev Kamenev, it was his relationship with Stalin that was most important to Nestor Lakoba's rise to power.

Nestor Lakoba ensured that Trotsky was isolated during the immediate aftermath of Lenin's death and funeral, an act which helped Stalin to consolidate his own power.

Nestor Lakoba used his relationship with Stalin to benefit both himself and Abkhazia.

Nestor Lakoba ultimately had to concede to Abkhazia's status of "treaty republic" within Georgia, a status that was never fully clarified.

Nestor Lakoba generally avoided going through Party channels, which would have meant dealing with reluctant officials in Georgia's capital Tbilisi, and instead used his connections to go directly to Moscow.

Nestor Lakoba oversaw the implementation of korenizatsiya, a policy introduced across the Soviet Union throughout the 1920s that was meant to benefit ethnic minorities, though most of the ethnic Abkhaz promoted were Lakoba's close confidants.

In December 1935, whilst in Moscow, Nestor Lakoba was given the Order of the Red Banner in recognition of his efforts during the Civil War.

Nestor Lakoba visited the villages of Abkhazia, and as Bgazhba wrote, "Lakoba wanted to be familiar with the living conditions of the peasants".

In contrast to other Bolshevik leaders, Nestor Lakoba was quiet and elegant and avoided shouting to make his point.

Nestor Lakoba was especially known for his accessibility to the people: a 1924 report by the journalist Zinaida Rikhter said that:.

The head of Abkhazia, Comrade Nestor Lakoba, is loved by the peasants and by the entire population.

Education was a major issue for Nestor Lakoba, who oversaw the construction of many new schools throughout Abkhazia: aided by the korenizatsiia policies that promoted local ethnic groups, many schools teaching in Abkhaz were opened in the 1920s, as well as schools in Georgian, Armenian, and Greek.

Nestor Lakoba was determined to maintain ethnic harmony in Abkhazia, a demographically diverse region.

Nestor Lakoba kept peace in Abkhazia by ignoring Marxian class theory and protecting former landowners and nobles.

Nestor Lakoba proved unable to fully stop collectivization, though he was able to reduce the severity of some of the most extreme measures, and stop mass deportations.

Nestor Lakoba supported Beria's rise because he felt that as a young native of Abkhazia, Beria would be obedient to Nestor Lakoba, whereas previous officials had not been.

That Beria lacked any direct access to Stalin was important, as it meant Nestor Lakoba could maintain his individually strong relationship with Stalin.

Blauvelt has suggested that Nestor Lakoba wanted Beria in power to help quash accusations dating back to 1929 that maintained he was abusing his power: a report presented to the Central Committee in 1930 exonerated Nestor Lakoba, due in the main to a lack of evidence and the intercession by Stalin.

Nestor Lakoba, who grew to despise Beria, sought to discredit him.

At one point Nestor Lakoba told fellow Bolshevik Sergo Ordzhonikidze that Beria once said that Ordzhonikidze "would have shot all the Georgians in Georgia if it was not for [Beria]" when he led the invasion of Georgia in 1921, and discussed the rumour that Beria had worked as a double agent against the Bolsheviks in Azerbaijan in 1920.

The relationship between Beria and Nestor Lakoba deteriorated as each tried to become closer to Stalin, and Nestor Lakoba retained his close relationship.

Nestor Lakoba turned down the offer in December 1935, content to stay in Abkhazia.

Nestor Lakoba, who had refused to issue license plates in Abkhazia until they switched the location from "Georgia" to "Abkhazia," recognized that this was a deliberate move by Beria and Stalin to undermine him, and took caution.

Nestor Lakoba began to lobby Stalin to transfer Abkhazia from Georgia into the nearby Krasnodar Krai within Russia, but was rebuffed each time.

On Nestor Lakoba's final visit to Moscow and Stalin, he brought the topic up one final time, and complained about Beria.

Nestor Lakoba's body was returned to Sukhumi, though notably all the internal organs, were removed.

Nestor Lakoba was accused of "nationalist deviationism", of having helped Trotsky, and of trying to kill both Stalin and Beria.

Sariya was taken to Tbilisi and tortured in order to extract a statement implicating Nestor Lakoba, but refused, even after Rauf was tortured in front of her.

In 1965 Mikhail Bgazhba, the First Secretary of the Abkhaz Communist Party from 1958 until 1965, wrote a short biography of Nestor Lakoba, largely rehabilitating him.