Lev Mekhlis

Lev Mekhlis
Lev Mekhlis
Лев Мехлис
	Mekhlis in 1939
Minister of State Control
	In office; 19 March 1946 – 27 October 1950
Premier	Joseph Stalin
Preceded by	Vasily Popov
Succeeded by	Vsevolod Merkulov
	In office; 6 September 1940 – 21 June 1941
Preceded by	Rosalia Zemlyachka
Succeeded by	Vasily Popov
Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars
	In office; 6 September 1940 – 15 May 1944
Premier	Vyacheslav Molotov ; Joseph Stalin
Editor-in-chief of Pravda
	In office; 1930–1937
Preceded by	Maximilian A. Saveliev
Succeeded by	Ivan E. Nikitin
Full member of the 17th, 18th Central Committee
	In office; 12 October 1937 – 16 October 1952
Candidate member of the 17th Central Committee
	In office; 10 February 1934 – 12 October 1937
Full member of the 17th, 18th Orgburo
	In office; 14 January 1938 – 16 October 1952
Personal details
Born	Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis; 13 January 1889; Odessa, Russian Empire
Died	13 February 1953 (aged 64); Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Kremlin Wall Necropolis
Citizenship	Russian Empire, Soviet Union
Political party	CPSU (1918–53)
Alma mater	Institute of Red Professors
Occupation	Politician; Political commissar; Chief editor
Awards	Order of Lenin (4) ; Order of the Red Banner (2) ; Order of Suvorov ; Order of Kutuzov ; Order of Military Valour (grade 4)
Signature
Nickname(s)	The Shark; Gloomy Demon
Military service
Allegiance	Russian Empire (1911–1917) ; Soviet Russia (1918–1920) ; Soviet Union (1941–1945)
Years of service	1911–20, 1941–45
Battles/wars	World War I ; Russian Civil War ; World War II

Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis (Russian: Лев Заха́рович Ме́хлис; January 13, 1889 – February 13, 1953) was a Soviet politician and a prominent officer in the Red Army from 1937 to 1940. As a senior political commissar, he became one of the main Stavka representatives on the Eastern Front (1941–1945) during World War II, being involved successively with five to seven Soviet fronts. Despite his fervent political engagement and loyalty to the Communist Party, various Soviet leaders, including Joseph Stalin, criticized and reprimanded Mekhlis for incompetent military leadership during World War II.^[1]^{[need quotation to verify]}^[2]^{[page needed]}

^ "Lev Mekhlis: Stalin's Grand Inquisitor | CODOH". codoh.com. Retrieved 2020-05-16.
^ Sebag Montefiore, Simon (2005). Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (First Vintage books ed.). New York. ISBN 1-4000-7678-1. OCLC 61699298.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[:0-1] "Lev Mekhlis: Stalin's Grand Inquisitor | CODOH". codoh.com. Retrieved 2020-05-16.

[:1-2] Sebag Montefiore, Simon (2005). Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar (First Vintage books ed.). New York. ISBN 1-4000-7678-1. OCLC 61699298.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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