Lev Borisovich Kamenev

Lev Borisovich Kamenev , 1883-1936, Soviet Communist leader. His original name was Rosenfeld. He joined (1901) the Social Democratic party and sided with the Bolshevik wing when the party split (1903). Banished (1915) to Siberia for his revolutionary activities, he returned after the February Revolution of 1917 and became a member of the first Politburo of the Communist party. On Lenin's death (1924), Kamenev, Stalin , and Zinoviev formed a triumvirate of successors and excluded Trotsky , Kamenev's brother-in-law, from power. In 1925 the Stalinist majority in the party defeated Kamenev and Zinoviev, who joined (1926) Trotsky's opposition. Kamenev was expelled from the party in 1927, but he recanted, was readmitted, and held minor offices. He was arrested late in 1934 on charges of complicity in the murder of Kirov and was sentenced to imprisonment. In 1936 he, Zinoviev, and 14 others were tried for treason in the first big public purge trial. They confessed and were executed. Both he and Zinoviev were posthumously rehabilitated in 1988.

Kamenev, Lev Borisovich (1883–1936) Soviet leader who joined the Social Democratic Party (1901) and sided with the BOLSHEVIK faction when the party split in 1903. He was exiled to Siberia for ordering Bolshevik deputies in the Duma to oppose World War I. In 1917 he presided over the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets. On LENIN's death in 1924 Kamenev, ZINOVIEV, and STALIN formed a triumvirate to exclude Kamenev's brother-in-law, TROTSKY, from power. In 1936 he was accused of complicity in the murder of Kirov in the first public show trial of Stalin's great purge, and was shot.