Grigori Sokolnikov

Grigory Yakovlevich Sokolnikov (born Girsh Yakovlevich Brilliant; 15 August 1888 – 21 May 1939) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary, economist, and Soviet politician of Jewish origin who rose to prominence in the early Soviet leadership.

A member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party from 1903 and the Bolshevik faction by 1905, Sokolnikov participated in underground activities, facing multiple arrests and exiles before returning to Russia in 1917 on Lenin's sealed train. He contributed to the October Revolution as a key organizer in the Urals and later served on the first Politburo.

Sokolnikov gained international notoriety for signing the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 on behalf of Soviet Russia, which ended Russia's involvement in World War I but ceded vast territories to the Central Powers under harsh terms, sparking intense debate within Bolshevik ranks over its necessity for regime survival.

As People's Commissar for Finance from 1922, he spearheaded monetary stabilization efforts amid post-Civil War hyperinflation, introducing the gold-backed chervonets ruble and supporting elements of the New Economic Policy that permitted limited private enterprise to revive the economy.

Sokolnikov's career involved shifting alliances, initially backing Trotsky, then joining the United Opposition against Stalin, and later aligning with the Right Opposition favoring continued market-oriented reforms over forced collectivization. These positions led to his demotion and, during the Great Purge, his arrest in 1936, conviction in the Trial of the Seventeen for alleged Trotskyist conspiracy, and death in prison in 1939, reportedly at the hands of fellow inmates.