# Orgburo

The Orgburo (Russian: Оргбюро́), also known as the Organisational Bureau (Russian: организационное бюро), of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union existed from 1919 to 1952, when it was abolished at the 19th Congress of the Communist Party and its functions were transferred to the enlarged Secretariat.

## Role

The Orgburo was established during Lenin's government to make important decisions about organisational work in the Soviet Union. It was originally designed to have equal political weight as Politburo and Secretariat. It oversaw the work of local Party committees and had the power to select and place Communist Party members in positions as it saw fit. The functions of the Orgburo and the Politburo were often interconnected, but the latter was ultimately the final decision-maker. While the Politburo mostly focused on strategic planning and monitoring of the people and status of the country, the Orgburo was tasked with overseeing the Party cadre and its assignment to various positions and duties, presumably in furtherance of the Party's strategic agenda.

## Election and chronology

In the same manner as the Politburo and the Secretariat, the Orgburo was elected at plenary sessions of the Central Committee. One of the Central Committee secretaries supervised the work of the Orgburo. The first Orgburo of three members (Vladimirsky, Krestinsky and Sverdlov) was elected on 16 January 1919, at the Central Committee meeting. The 8th Party Congress (8 March 1919 – 23 March 1919) amended the party charter and set up provisions for election of the Politburo, the Orgburo and the Secretariat. The Central Committee plenum elected the new Orgburo of five members and of one candidate member on 25 March 1919. Some key Communist politicians (such as Joseph Stalin, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich and others) served as members both of the Orgburo and of the Politburo, but most of the Orgburo members were less important figures than those elected to the Politburo and the Secretariat.
| Date | Event |
| 16 Jan 1919 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Vladimirsky, Krestinsky, Sverdlov (died 16 Mar 1919) |
| 25 Mar 1919 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Alexander Beloborodov, Krestinsky, Leonid Serebryakov, Stalin, Elena Stasova; candidate member: Matvei Muranov |
| 29 Nov 1919 | Mikhail Kalinin elected full member at the Central Committee plenum |
| 5 Apr 1920 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Krestinsky, Yevgeni Preobrazhensky, Alexei Rykov, Serebryakov, Stalin |
| 16 Mar 1921 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Komarov, V.Mikhaylov, Molotov, Rykov, Stalin, Tomsky, Yaroslavsky; candidate members: Dzerzhinsky, Kalinin, Rudzutak |
| 28 May 1921 | Politburo approved Zalutsky, Kutuzov, Shmidt as candidate members |
| 8 Aug 1921 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Dzerzhinsky, Zalutsky, V.Mikhaylov, Molotov, Rudzutak, Rykov, Stalin; candidate members: Kalinin, Kutuzov, Shmidt |
| 3 Apr 1922 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Andreyev, Dzerzhinsky, Kuibyshev, Molotov, Rykov, Stalin, Tomsky; candidate members: Isaak Zelensky, Kalinin, Rudzutak |
| 26 Apr 1923 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Andreyev, Dzerzhinsky, Molotov, Rudzutak, Rykov, Stalin, Tomsky; candidate members: Zelensky, Kalinin, V.Mikhaylov |
| 25 Sep 1923 | Zinoviev and Trotsky elected full members, Bukharin and Korotkov candidate members at the Central Committee plenum |
| 2 Jun 1924 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Andreyev, Bubnov, Voroshilov, Dogadov, Zelensky, L.Kaganovich, Kalinin, Molotov, Nikolayeva, Smirnov, Stalin; candidate members: Antipov, Dzerzhinsky, Lepse, Tomsky, Chaplin, Frunze (died 31 Oct 1925) |
| 20 Aug 1924 | Zelensky relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Nikolai Uglanov elected full member |
| 1 Jan 1926 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Andreyev, Artyuhina, Bubnov, Dogadov, Yevdokimov, Kviring, Kosior, Molotov, Smirnov, Stalin, Uglanov; candidate members: Lepse, V.Mikhaylov, Ukhanov, Chaplin, Shmidt |
| 9 Apr 1926 | Yevdokimov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Shvernik elected full member |
| 16 Apr 1927 | Shvernik and Kviring relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; Kubyak, Sulimov and Rukhimovich elected full members, Lobov elected candidate member |
| 19 Dec 1927 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Andreyev, Artyuhina, Bubnov, Dogadov, Kosior, Kubyak, Molotov, Moskvin, Rukhimovich, Smirnov, Stalin, Sulimov, Uglanov; candidate members: Kotov, Lepse (died 6 Oct 1929), Lobov, V.Mikhaylov, Ukhanov, Chaplin, Shmidt |
| 11 Apr 1928 | Andreyev relieved of duties at the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission; Bauman elected full member, Antipov elected candidate member |
| 12 Jul 1928 | Kosior relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum; L.Kaganovich elected full member |
| 29 Apr 1929 | Uglanov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum |
| 17 Nov 1929 | Gamarnik elected full member at the Central Committee plenum; Shvernik elected candidate member |
| 13 Jul 1930 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Akulov, Bauman, Bubnov, Gamarnik, L.Kaganovich, Lobov, Molotov, Moskvin, Postyshev, Stalin, Shvernik; candidate members: Dogadov, Kosarev, Smirnov, Tsikhon |
| 21 Dec 1930 | Molotov relieved of duties at the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission |
| 2 Oct 1932 | Akulov, Bauman and Dogadov relieved of duties at the Central Committee plenum |
| 12 Jan 1933 | Smirnov relieved of duties at the joint plenum of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission |
| 10 Feb 1934 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Gamarnik (committed suicide 31 May 1937), Yezhov, Zhdanov, L.Kaganovich, Kirov (assassinated 1 Dec 1934), Kosarev (arrested 29 Nov 1938, executed 23 Feb 1939), Kuibyshev (died 25 Jan 1935), Stalin, Stetsky (arrested Apr 1938, executed 1 Aug 1938), Shvernik; candidate members: M.Kaganovich, Krinitsky (executed 30 Oct 1937) |
| 10 Mar 1935 | Andreyev approved full member by questionnaire |
| 14 Jan 1938 | Mekhlis elected full member at the Central Committee plenum |
| 22 Mar 1939 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Andreyev, Zhdanov, L.Kaganovich, Malenkov, Mekhlis, N.Mikhaylov, Stalin, Shvernik, Shcherbakov (died 10 May 1945) |
| 18 Mar 1946 | Orgburo elected by the Central Committee: Aleksandrov, Andrianov, Bulganin, Zhdanov (died 31 Aug 1948), A.Kuznetsov, V.Kuznetsov, Malenkov, Mekhlis, N.Mikhaylov, Patolichev, Popov, Rodionov, Stalin, Suslov, Shatalin |
| 24 May 1947 | Patolichev relieved of duties by questionnaire |
| 7 Mar 1949 | A.Kuznetsov and Rodionov relieved of duties by questionnaire |
| 10 Mar 1949 | Chernousov approved full member by questionnaire |
| Oct 1952 | Orgburo abolished at the CPSU 19th Party Congress and duties transferred to Secretariat |