# Central Committee of the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)

The Central Committee (CC) composition was elected by the 16th Congress, and sat from 13 July 1930 until 10 February 1934. Its 1st Plenary Session elected the Politburo, Secretariat and Orgburo. The 16th Congress was the first party convention since the 13th Congress which saw no organized opposition, and the first congress in party history in which there was no opposition to the party leadership. Ukrainian historian Oleg Khlevniuk considers the period 1930–1934 to be a "transitional period" between collective leadership (referred to interchangeably by him as oligarchy) and Joseph Stalin's personal dictatorship (autocracy). The removal of Alexei Rykov, the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK, the Soviet government), from the Politburo at the 1st Joint Plenary Session of the CC and the Central Control Commission (CCC) has been marked in historic literature as "the definitive Stalinization of that body [Politburo]" according to Khlevniuk.
The Central Committee elected Stalin General Secretary of the Central Committee at its 1st Plenary Session. Vyacheslav Molotov served as Stalin's deputy, an informal post referred to by Sovietologists as Second Secretary, and was empowered to manage party business and sign Politburo resolutions when Stalin was away from Moscow. Upon Molotov's appointment as SNK Chairman in December 1930, Lazar Kaganovich took his place as Second Secretary.
This Central Committee composition led the party and the country through the first five-year plan, Syrtsov–Lominadze affair, dekulakization, collectivization of agriculture, Ryutin Affair, Soviet famine of 1932–33 (which has led to accusation of "extermination by hunger" by the Ukrainian state), the beginning of the second five-year plan, purges of the last oppositional elements within the party and heightened repression.

## Plenums

The Central Committee was not a permanent institution. It convened plenary sessions. Seven CC plenary sessions and two plenary sessions held in conjunction with the convening of the Central Control Commission were held between the 16th Congress and the 17th Congress. When the CC was not in session, decision-making power was vested in the internal bodies of the CC itself; that is, the Politburo, Secretariat and Orgburo. None of these bodies were permanent either; typically they convened several times a month.
Plenary sessions of the Central Committee :
| Plenum | Date | Length |
| 1st Plenary Session | 13 July 1930 | 1 day |
| 2nd Plenary Session | 1 December 1930 | 1 day |
| 1st Joint Plenary Session | 17–21 December 1930 | 5 days |
| 3rd Plenary Session | 11–15 June 1931 | 5 days |
| 4th Plenary Session | 28–31 October 1931 | 4 days |
| 5th Plenary Session | 4 February 1932 | 1 day |
| 6th Plenary Session | 28 September – 2 October 1932 | 5 days |
| 2nd Joint Plenary Session | 7–12 January 1933 | 6 days |
| 7th Plenary Session | 25 January 1934 | 1 day |

## Apparatus

Individuals employed by the Central Committee's bureaus, departments and newspapers made up the apparatus between the 16th Congress and the 17th Congress. The bureaus and departments were supervised by the Secretariat, and each secretary (member of the Secretariat) supervised a specific department. The leaders of departments were officially referred to as Heads, while the titles of bureau leaders varied between chairman, first secretary and secretary.
Central Committee Apparatus of the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) :
| Institution | Leader | Cyrillic | Took office | Left office | Length of tenure | Nationality | Gender |
| Accounting Department | Timofey Samsonov | Тимофей Самсонов | 1932 | 10 February 1934 | 1 year and 254 days | Russian | Male |
| Administrator of Affairs | Timofey Samsonov | Тимофей Самсонов | 13 July 1930 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 212 days | Russian | Male |
| Administrative, Enterprise and Trade Union Cadres Department | Ivan Moskvin | Иван Москвин | 13 July 1930 | 14 November 1930 | 124 days | Russian | Male |
| Administrative, Enterprise and Trade Union Cadres Department | Nikolai Yezhov | Николай Ежов | 14 November 1930 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 92 days | Russian | Male |
| Agitation and Mass Campaign Department | Grigory Kaminsky | Григорий Каминский | 13 July 1930 | August 1930 | 19 days | Russian | Male |
| Agitation and Mass Campaign Department | Klavdiya Nikolayeva | Клавдия Николаева | August 1930 | 1933 | 2 years and 304 days | Russian | Female |
| Agriculture Department | Lazar Kaganovich | Лазарь Каганович | 15 December 1932 | 10 February 1934 | 1 year and 57 days | Russian | Male |
| Bolshevik | Vilhelm Knorin | Вильгельм Кнорин | 13 July 1930 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 212 days | Latvian | Male |
| Central Asian Bureau | Isaak Zelensky | Исаак Зеленский | 13 July 1930 | January 1931 | 172 days | Russian | Male |
| Central Asian Bureau | Karl Bauman | Карл Бауман | January 1931 | 10 February 1931 | 3 years and 40 days | Latvian | Male |
| Culture and Propaganda Department | Aleksei Stetskii | Алексей Стецкий | 13 July 1930 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 212 days | Russian | Male |
| Institute of Marx–Engels–Lenin | Vladimir Adoratsky | Владимир Адоратский | November 1931 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 105 days | Russian | Male |
| Organizational-Instruction Department | Dmitry Bulatov | Дмитрий Булатов | 13 July 1930 | July 1931 | 353 days | Russian | Male |
| Organizational-Instruction Department | Joseph Meerzon | Жозеф Меерзон | July 1931 | 1932 | 336 days | Russian | Male |
| Organizational-Instruction Department | Pavel Postyshev | Па́вел По́стышев | 1932 | January 1933 | 214 days | Russian | Male |
| Organizational-Instruction Department | Vladimir Polonsky | Владимир Полонский | January 1933 | August 1933 | 212 days | Russian | Male |
| Pravda | Lev Mekhlis | Лев Мехлис | 13 July 1930 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 212 days | Ukrainian | Male |
| Secret Department | Ivan Tovstukha | Иван Товстуха | 13 July 1930 | 22 July 1930 | 9 days | Ukrainian | Male |
| Secret Department | Alexander Poskrebyshev | Александр Поскрёбышев | 22 July 1930 | 10 February 1934 | 3 years and 203 days | Russian | Male |

## Composition
### Members

Members of the Central Committee of the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) :
| Name | Cyrillic | 15th CC | 17th CC | Birth | Death | PM | Nationality | Gender |
| Pyotr Alexeyev | Пётр Алексеев | Candidate | Reelected | 1893 | 1937 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Andrey Andreyev | Андрей Андреев | Old | Reelected | 1895 | 1971 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolay Antipov | Николай Антипов | Old | Reelected | 1894 | 1938 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Aleksei Badayev | Алексей Бадаев | Old | Reelected | 1883 | 1951 | 1904 | Russian | Male |
| Karl Bauman | Карл Бауман | Old | Reelected | 1892 | 1937 | 1907 | Latvian | Male |
| Andrei Bubnov | Андрей Бубнов | Old | Reelected | 1884 | 1938 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolai Bukharin | Никола́й Буха́рин | Old | Candidate | 1888 | 1938 | 1906 | Russian | Male |
| Vlas Chubar | Влас Чубар | Old | Reelected | 1891 | 1939 | 1907 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Mikhail Chudov | Михаил Чудов | Old | Reelected | 1893 | 1937 | 1913 | Russian | Male |
| Mikhail Chuvyrin | Михаил Чувырин | Candidate | Reelected | 1883 | 1947 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Robert Eikhe | Роберт Эйхе | Candidate | Reelected | 1890 | 1940 | 1905 | Latvian | Male |
| Yan Gamarnik | Ян Гамарник | Old | Reelected | 1894 | 1937 | 1916 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Filipp Goloshchyokin | Филипп Голощёкин | Old | Not | 1876 | 1941 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Kabakov | Иван Кабаков | Old | Reelected | 1891 | 1937 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Lazar Kaganovich | Лазарь Каганович | Old | Reelected | 1893 | 1991 | 1911 | Russian | Male |
| Mikhail Kalinin | Михаил Калинин | Old | Reelected | 1875 | 1946 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Mendel Khatayevich | Мендель Хатаевич | Candidate | Reelected | 1893 | 1937 | 1913 | Russian | Male |
| Sergey Kirov | Серге́й Ки́ров | Old | Reelected | 1886 | 1934 | 1904 | Russian | Male |
| Vilhelm Knorin | Вильгельм Кнорин | Old | Reelected | 1890 | 1938 | 1910 | Latvian | Male |
| Ivan Kodatsky | Иван Кодацкий | Candidate | Reelected | 1893 | 1937 | 1914 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Nikolay Kolotilov | Николай Колотилов | Old | Not | 1885 | 1937 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolay Komarov | Николай Комаров | Old | Candidate | 1886 | 1937 | 1909 | Russian | Male |
| Joseph Kosior | Иосиф Косиор | Old | Reelected | 1889 | 1937 | 1908 | Polish | Male |
| Stanislav Kosior | Станислав Косиор | Old | Reelected | 1889 | 1939 | 1907 | Polish | Male |
| Nadezhda Krupskaya | Наде́жда Кру́пская | Old | Reelected | 1869 | 1939 | 1898 | Russian | Female |
| Gleb Krzhizhanovsky | Глеб Кржижано́вский | Old | Reelected | 1872 | 1959 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolay Kubyak | Николай Кубяк | Old | Candidate | 1881 | 1937 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Valerian Kuybyshev | Валериан Куйбышев | Old | Reelected | 1888 | 1935 | 1904 | Russian | Male |
| Emanuel Kviring | Эммануил Квиринг | Old | Not | 1888 | 1937 | 1912 | Volga German | Male |
| Dmitry Lebed | Дмитрий Лебедь | New | Reelected | 1893 | 1937 | 1909 | Russian | Male |
| Fyodor Leonov | Фёдор Леонов | Candidate | Not | 1892 | 1938 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Semyon Lobov | Семён Лобов | Old | Reelected | 1888 | 1937 | 1913 | Russian | Male |
| Vissarion Lominadze | Виссарион Ломинадзе | Candidate | Removed | 1897 | 1935 | 1917 | Georgian | Male |
| Isidore Lyubimov | Исидор Любимов | Old | Reelected | 1882 | 1937 | 1902 | Russian | Male |
| Dmitry Manuilsky | Дмитро Мануїльський | Old | Reelected | 1883 | 1959 | 1903 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Anastas Mikoyan | Анаста́с Микоя́н | Old | Reelected | 1895 | 1978 | 1915 | Armenian | Male |
| Vyacheslav Molotov | Вячеслав Молотов | Old | Reelected | 1890 | 1986 | 1906 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Moskvin | Иван Москвин | Old | Not | 1890 | 1937 | 1911 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Nosov | Иван Носов | Candidate | Reelected | 1888 | 1937 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Georgy Oppokov | Георгий Оппоков | Old | Not | 1888 | 1938 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Mamia Orakhelashvili | Мамия Орахелашвили | Old | Not | 1888 | 1937 | 1903 | Georgian | Male |
| Grigol Ordzhonikidze | Григо́рий Орджоники́дзе | By-election | Reelected | 1886 | 1937 | 1903 | Georgian | Male |
| Grigory Petrovsky | Григо́рій Петро́вський | Old | Reelected | 1878 | 1958 | 1898 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Osip Piatnitsky | Осип Пятницкий | Old | Reelected | 1882 | 1938 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Pavel Postyshev | Григо́рій Петро́вський | Old | Reelected | 1887 | 1939 | 1904 | Russian | Male |
| Georgy Pyatakov | Георгий Пятаков | New | Reelected | 1890 | 1939 | 1910 | Russian | Male |
| Jānis Rudzutaks | Ян Рудзутак | Old | Reelected | 1887 | 1938 | 1905 | Latvian | Male |
| Moisei Rukhimovich | Моисей Рухимович | Old | Reelected | 1889 | 1938 | 1913 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Rumyantsev | Иван Румянцев | Old | Reelected | 1886 | 1937 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Alexei Rykov | Алексей Рыков | Old | Candidate | 1881 | 1938 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Kuzma Ryndin | Кузьма Рындин | Candidate | Reelected | 1893 | 1938 | 1915 | Russian | Male |
| Isaak Schwartz | Исаак Шварц | Old | Candidate | 1879 | 1951 | 1899 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Boris Sheboldayev | Борис Шеболдаев | New | Reelected | 1895 | 1937 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolay Shvernik | Николай Шверник | Old | Reelected | 1888 | 1970 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Mykola Skrypnyk | Микола Скрипник | Old | Died | 1872 | 1933 | 1898 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Alexander Smirnov | Александр Смирно | Old | Removed | 1878 | 1938 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Joseph Stalin | Ио́сиф Ста́лин | Old | Reelected | 1878 | 1953 | 1898 | Georgian | Male |
| Aleksei Stetskii | Алексей Стецкий | Old | Reelected | 1896 | 1938 | 1915 | Russian | Male |
| Konstantin Strievsky | Константин Стриевский | Old | Candidate | 1885 | 1938 | 1902 | Belarusian | Male |
| Daniil Sulimov | Даниил Сулимов | Old | Reelected | 1890 | 1937 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Sergei Syrtsov | Сергей Сырцов | Old | Removed | 1893 | 1937 | 1913 | Russian | Male |
| Aleksandr Tolokontsev | Александр Толоконцев | Old | Not | 1889 | 1937 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Mikhail Tomsky | Михаил Томский | Old | Candidate | 1880 | 1936 | 1904 | Russian | Male |
| Anton Tsikhon | Антон Цихон | Candidate | Not | 1887 | 1939 | 1906 | Russian | Male |
| Konstantin Ukhanov | Константин Уханов | Old | Reelected | 1891 | 1937 | 1907 | Russian | Male |
| Iosif Vareikis | Иосиф Варейкис | Old | Reelected | 1894 | 1938 | 1913 | Lithuanian | Male |
| Kliment Voroshilov | Климент Ворошилов | Old | Reelected | 1881 | 1969 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Yakov Yakovlev | Я́ков Я́ковлев | New | Reelected | 1896 | 1938 | 1913 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Isaak Zelensky | Исаак Зеленский | Old | Reelected | 1890 | 1937 | 1906 | Russian | Male |
| Andrei Zhdanov | Андрей Жданов | Candidate | Reelected | 1896 | 1948 | 1915 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Zhukov | Иван Жуков | Old | Reelected | 1889 | 1937 | 1909 | Russian | Male |

### Candidates

Candidate Members of the Central Committee of the 16th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) :
| Name | Cyrillic | 15th CC | 17th CC | Birth | Death | PM | Nationality | Gender |
| Stepan Afanasyev | Степан Афанасьев | New | Not | 1894 | 1965 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Aleksey Amosov | Алексей Амосов | New | Not | 1896 | 1937 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Naum Antselovich | Наум Анцелович | New | Not | 1895 | 1971 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Pyotr Baranov | Пётр Баранов | Candidate | Died | 1892 | 1933 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Sergei Bergavinov | Сергей Бергавинов | New | Not | 1889 | 1937 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolai Bryukhanov | Николай Брюханов | Candidate | Not | 1878 | 1938 | 1902 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Bulat | Иван Булат | New | Not | 1896 | 1938 | 1912 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Dmitry Bulatov | Дмитрий Булатов | New | Not | 1889 | 1941 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Anton Bulin | Антон Булин | New | Candidate | 1894 | 1938 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolai Chaplin | Николай Чаплин | Candidate | Not | 1902 | 1938 | 1919 | Russian | Male |
| Sergey Chutskayev | Сергей Чуцкаев | Candidate | Not | 1876 | 1944 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Alexander Dogadov | Александр Догадов | Member | Not | 1888 | 1937 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Shalva Eliava | Шалва Элиава | Candidate | Candidate | 1883 | 1937 | 1904 | Georgian | Male |
| Konstantin Gey | Константин Гей | Candidate | Not | 1896 | 1939 | 1916 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolay Goloded | Николай Голодед | New | Not | 1894 | 1937 | 1918 | Belarusian | Male |
| Fyodor Gryadinsky | Фёдор Грядинский | Candidate | Candidate | 1893 | 1938 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Akmal Ikramov | Акмаль Икрамов | Candidate | Member | 1898 | 1938 | 1918 | Uzbek | Male |
| Uraz Isayev | Ураз Исаев | New | Member | 1899 | 1938 | 1920 | Kazakh | Male |
| Vladimir Ivanov | Владимир Иванов | Candidate | Member | 1893 | 1938 | 1915 | Russian | Male |
| Mikhail Kakhiani | Михаил Кахиани | New | Not | 1896 | 1937 | 1917 | Georgian | Male |
| Anna Kalgyna | Анна Калыгина | Candidate | Candidate | 1895 | 1937 | 1915 | Russian | Female |
| Moisei Kalmanovich | Моисей Калманович | New | Candidate | 1888 | 1937 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Grigory Kaminsky | Григорий Каминский | Candidate | Candidate | 1895 | 1938 | 1913 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Lavrentiy Kartvelishvili | Лаврентий Картвелишвили | New | Member | 1890 | 1938 | 1910 | Georgian | Male |
| Mikhail Khloplyankin | Михаил Хлоплянкин | New | Not | 1892 | 1938 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Aleksei Kiselyov | Алексей Киселёв | Candidate | Not | 1879 | 1937 | 1898 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Klimenko | Иван Клименко | Candidate | Not | 1891 | 1937 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Alexander Kosarev | Александр Косарев | New | Member | 1903 | 1939 | 1919 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Kozlov | Иван Козлов | New | Not | 1883 | 1970 | 1918 | Russian | Male |
| Alexander Krinitsky | Александр Криницкий | Candidate | Not | 1894 | 1937 | 1915 | Russian | Male |
| Vasily Kuritsyn | Василий Курицын | New | Candidate | 1892 | 1937 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Solomon Lozovsky | Соломон Лозовский | Candidate | Candidate | 1892 | 1952 | 1901 | Russian | Male |
| Valery Mezhlauk | Валерий Межлаук | Candidate | Member | 1893 | 1938 | 1917 | Latvian | Male |
| Vasily Mikhailov | Василий Михайлов | Member | Candidate | 1894 | 1937 | 1915 | Russian | Male |
| Mikhail Mikhailov-Ivanov | Михаил Михайлов-Иванов | Candidate | Died | 1894 | 1931 | 1913 | Russian | Male |
| Levon Mirzoyan | Левон Мирзоян | Candidate | Member | 1887 | 1939 | 1917 | Armenian | Male |
| Gazanfar Musabekov | Газанфар Мусабеков | Candidate | Candidate | 1888 | 1938 | 1918 | Azerbaijani | Male |
| Klavdiya Nikolayeva | Клавдия Николаева | Candidate | Member | 1893 | 1944 | 1909 | Russian | Female |
| Valerian Osinsky | Валериан Оболенский | Candidate | Candidate | 1887 | 1938 | 1907 | Russian | Male |
| Mikhail Oshvintsev | Михаил Ошвинцев | Candidate | Not | 1889 | 1939 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolay Pakhomov | Николай Пахомов | New | Candidate | 1890 | 1938 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Ivan Perepechko | Иван Перепечко | New | Not | 1897 | 1943 | 1914 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Vladimir Polonsky | Владимир Полонский | Candidate | Not | 1893 | 1937 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Nikolai Popov | Николай Попов | New | Candidate | 1890 | 1938 | 1919 | Russian | Male |
| Boris Pozern | Борис Позерн | New | Candidate | 1882 | 1939 | 1902 | Russian | Male |
| Vladimir Ptukha | Владимир Птуха | New | Candidate | 1894 | 1938 | 1917 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Konstantin Rumyantsev | Константин Румянцев | Candidate | Died | 1891 | 1932 | 1916 | Russian | Male |
| Maximilian Saveliev | Максимилиа́н Саве́льев | New | Not | 1898 | 1939 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Vasily Schmidt | Василий Шмидт | Candidate | Not | 1886 | 1938 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Alexei Sedelnikov | Алексей Седельников | New | Candidate | 1894 | 1938 | 1914 | Russian | Male |
| Boris Semenov | Борис Семёнов | Candidate | Candidate | 1890 | 1937 | 1907 | Russian | Male |
| Alexander Serebrovsky | Александр Серебровский | Candidate | Candidate | 1884 | 1938 | 1903 | Russian | Male |
| Pyotr Smorodin | Пётр Смородин | New | Candidate | 1897 | 1939 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Grigori Sokolnikov | Григорий Сокольников | Member | Candidate | 1888 | 1939 | 1905 | Ukrainian | Male |
| Vasily Stroganov | Василий Строганов | Candidate | Not | 1888 | 1938 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Kirill Sukhomlin | Кирилл Сухомлин | Candidate | Not | 1886 | 1938 | 1905 | Russian | Male |
| Roman Terekhov | Роман Терехов | New | Not | 1889 | 1979 | 1912 | Russian | Male |
| Fyodor Tsarkov | Фёдор Царьков | New | Not | 1888 | 1938 | 1906 | Russian | Male |
| Ieronim Uborevich | Иероним Уборевич | New | Candidate | 1896 | 1937 | 1917 | Lithuanian | Male |
| Józef Unszlicht | Ио́сиф У́ншлихт | Candidate | Candidate | 1879 | 1938 | 1900 | Polish | Male |
| Mikhail Uryvayev | Михаил Урываев | Candidate | Not | 1887 | 1937 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Gavrii Veynberg | Гавриил Вейнберг | Candidate | Candidate | 1891 | 1946 | 1906 | Polish | Male |
| Pyotr Volkov | Пётр Волков | New | Not | 1896 | 1937 | 1917 | Russian | Male |
| Genrikh Yagoda | Генрих Ягода | New | Member | 1891 | 1938 | 1907 | Russian | Male |
| Iona Yakir | Иона Якир | New | Candidate | 1896 | 1937 | 1917 | Moldovan | Male |
| Voronova Yakovlevna | Пелагея Воронова | New | Not | 1892 | 1990 | 1917 | Russian | Female |
| Tikhon Yurkin | Тихон Юркин | New | Candidate | 1898 | 1986 | 1915 | Russian | Male |