Peljidiin Genden

Who was Peljidiin Genden?

Peljidiin Genden was prominent political leader of the Mongolian People's Republic who served as the country's second president and the ninth prime minister. As one of three MPRP secretaries, Genden was responsible for pushing rapid and forced implementation of socialist economic policies in early 1930s. In 1932 he secured Josef Stalin's backing to become prime minister, but then increasingly resisted pressure from Moscow to liquidate institutional Buddhism and permit increased Soviet influence in Mongolia. His independent temperament, outspokenness, and growing nationalist sentiments ultimately led to his Soviet-orchestrated purge in March 1936. Accused of conspiring against the revolution and spying for the Japanese, he was executed in Moscow on November 26, 1937.