18811938
Russian revolutionary and leader. He was commissar for the interior after the Russian October Revolution of 1917 and a member of the Politburo in 1922. After Lenin died, he became Premier of the USSR. He was on the side of Josef Stalin in the 1926 political struggle that ended with Leon Trotsky exiled, but was in turn accused of "rightist deviation" by Stalin after Stalin changed positions to supporting collectivization (which Rykov opposed). He was expelled from the Politburo, and given a secondary post. Was eventually executed for treason in the great party purges of the 1930s.