Leonid Nikolaev

Leonid Nikolaev (1904–December 29, 1934) was the assassin of Sergei Kirov, the first secretary of the Leningrad branch of the Communist Party.

Early life

Nikolaev was a troubled young Soviet Communist Party member in Leningrad. He was a small, thin man, about five feet tall; even as an adult he showed the effects of childhood malnutrition. He had difficulty holding a job, and had been reprimanded by the Party for having refused a posting that was not to his liking. Eventually, the Party expelled him as a member. Unemployed, he soon ran short of money, and blamed the Party for his troubles. His wife Milda Draule was a member of a regional party committee and he had a strong suspicion that she had love affair with Kirov.

The Kirov Assassination

It is unknown whether Nikolaev had had prior dealings with the Leningrad branch of the Soviet government, headed by Sergei Kirov. What is known is that Kirov had brooked the displeasure of Joseph Stalin, the head of the Soviet Communist Party, by refusing to persecute adherents of a growing Opposition movement to Stalin's leadership. At a Party congress in January 1934, Kirov demonstrated his popularity over that of Stalin, where he received the fewest negative votes of any delegate (three, as opposed to 292 for Joseph Stalin).