born Oct. 9, 1888, Moscow, Russia
died March 14, 1938, Moscow
Russian communist leader and economist.
After the Bolsheviks seized power, he became the editor of the party newspaper Pravda (1917–29). A member of the Politburo and a prominent leader of the Comintern, he also wrote several theoretical economic works. In 1938 he was a defendant in the last of the public purge trials . Falsely accused of counterrevolutionary activities and espionage, he was found guilty and executed.