Jānis Rudzutaks

Who was Jānis Rudzutaks?

Jānis Rudzutaks was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician.

Rudzutaks was born in the Kuldīga district of the Courland Governorate, into the family of a farm worker. In 1903, he started working in a factory in Riga. Two years later, he joined Latvian Social Democratic Labour Party. In 1907, Rudzutaks was arrested because of his political views and was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor. He served a part of his sentence in Riga and was then transferred to Butyrka prison in Moscow. Rudzutaks was released after the February Revolution of 1917.

After his release, Rudzutaks served in various positions in the All-Russia Communist Party, Soviet system and labor unions. He became a close friend and working associate of Vladimir Lenin. From 1920 to 1921, he was the secretary general of All-Russia Central Council of Labor Unions. From 1922 to 1923, Rudzutaks was the chairman of Central Asian bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Russia Communist Party and, from 1923 to 1924, a secretary of the Central Committee. From 1924 until 1934, he was the People's Commissar for transportation.