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SVERDLOV Origin of surname

SVERDLOV, SVERDLOF, SVERLOV, SVIRLOV, SERVDEL, SVERDEL, SVERDIOL, SVERDLIN, SVERDINSKY

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.

The surname Sverdlov is associated with the village of Sverdly in Polotsk district, Belarus. In the middle of the 19th century, Sverdlov is recorded as a Jewish family name in Polotsk, Vitebsk, Lepel, Dzisna, Borisov, Drissa (Belarus).

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (Iankel Solomon) (1885-1919), Bolshevik revolutionary and politician, a prominent figure in the Russian Revolution and a key member of the Bolshevik Party, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1902 while still a student, and was part of the Bolshevik faction led by Lenin. Sverdlov participated in the revolution of 1905 but was arrested in 1906 and imprisoned for three years. Upon his release, he resumed his activity as an agitator, but was arrested again and deported to Siberia. He escaped in 1910, however he was recaptured again and sentenced to four years in prison. He succeeded in escaping in the fall of 1912 and went to Saint Petersburg where he worked for Pravda newspaper.

Denounced by a double agent, Sverdlov was arrested and sent back to Siberia, where he met Stalin. After the February Revolution and the abdication of Czar Nicolas II, Sverdlov was released and returned to Saint Petersburg, where he became one of the main party officials and a member of the Central Committee. He was heavily involved in the organization of armed insurrection and participated in the Revolutionary Military Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, chaired by Leon Trotsky.

In November 1917, Sverdlov replaced Lev Kamenev as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee, making him the head of state. He was one of the main actors in the liquidation of the Constituent Assembly and in the request for a separate peace with Germany. Despite his youth, he was regarded as a potential successor to Lenin.

On the night of July 16 to 17, 1918, Sverdlov, with Lenin's approval, gave the order to execute Czar Nicholas II and his entire family along with his personal doctor and three servants in Yekaterinburg. Sverdlov was a close associate of Lenin and together by late 1918 they dominated the decision-making in the Central Committee.

In 1919, during the Russian Civil War, Sverdlov traveled the country to engage the population against the White Armies. He fell victim to an epidemic of Spanish flu and died in Oryol and was buried in the Kremlin Wall. To honor his memory, Yekaterinburg was named Sverdlovsk in 1924, but the city reverted to its old name after the fall of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

Yakov Sverdlov was the younger brother of the French Army officer Zinovi Pechkov (1884-1963).

Zinovi Alekseievitch Pechkov (also Pechkoff) (born Yeshua Zalman Sverdlov) (1884-1963), officer of the French army, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. In 1902, he converted to the Russian Orthodox Church, which led to his biological father rejecting him. The Russian writer Maxim Gorky, his godfather and namesake, adopted him de facto, and Pechkov accompanied Gorky to France and Italy.

When WW I began, Pechkov joined the French Foreign Legion voluntarily in 1914. He lost his right arm in action in 1915. After that, he was sent to Kolchak's White Army during the Russian Civil War.

In 1923, he became a French citizen. From 1921 to 1926, he fought in the Rif War in Morocco as an officer in the Foreign Legion under Marshal Lyautey. Later, he commanded them himself from 1937 to 1940, and in 1943, he was promoted to brigadier general.

During his career, Pechkov met General de Gaulle in London in 1941. He was entrusted with significant missions in Africa and the Far East, including serving as the head of the French liaison mission to the Allied occupation forces in Japan from 1946 to 1950. In 1964, he held talks with Chiang Kai-shek, the President of the Republic of China in Taiwan.

In the Soviet Union, Pechkov was viewed as a traitor. As a result, Stalinist censors removed him from the famous photo that shows him as a spectator at a chess game between Lenin and Bogdanov in April 1908. Pechkov died in Paris.

Zinovi Pechkov was the elder brother of the Russian revolutionary Yakov Sverdlov (1885-1919).

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SVERDLOV Origin of surname
SVERDLOV, SVERDLOF, SVERLOV, SVIRLOV, SERVDEL, SVERDEL, SVERDIOL, SVERDLIN, SVERDINSKY

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives.

The surname Sverdlov is associated with the village of Sverdly in Polotsk district, Belarus. In the middle of the 19th century, Sverdlov is recorded as a Jewish family name in Polotsk, Vitebsk, Lepel, Dzisna, Borisov, Drissa (Belarus).
Written by researchers of ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Yakov Sverdlov

Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov (Iankel Solomon) (1885-1919), Bolshevik revolutionary and politician, a prominent figure in the Russian Revolution and a key member of the Bolshevik Party, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party in 1902 while still a student, and was part of the Bolshevik faction led by Lenin. Sverdlov participated in the revolution of 1905 but was arrested in 1906 and imprisoned for three years. Upon his release, he resumed his activity as an agitator, but was arrested again and deported to Siberia. He escaped in 1910, however he was recaptured again and sentenced to four years in prison. He succeeded in escaping in the fall of 1912 and went to Saint Petersburg where he worked for Pravda newspaper.

Denounced by a double agent, Sverdlov was arrested and sent back to Siberia, where he met Stalin. After the February Revolution and the abdication of Czar Nicolas II, Sverdlov was released and returned to Saint Petersburg, where he became one of the main party officials and a member of the Central Committee. He was heavily involved in the organization of armed insurrection and participated in the Revolutionary Military Committee of the Petrograd Soviet, chaired by Leon Trotsky.

In November 1917, Sverdlov replaced Lev Kamenev as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee, making him the head of state. He was one of the main actors in the liquidation of the Constituent Assembly and in the request for a separate peace with Germany. Despite his youth, he was regarded as a potential successor to Lenin.

On the night of July 16 to 17, 1918, Sverdlov, with Lenin's approval, gave the order to execute Czar Nicholas II and his entire family along with his personal doctor and three servants in Yekaterinburg. Sverdlov was a close associate of Lenin and together by late 1918 they dominated the decision-making in the Central Committee.

In 1919, during the Russian Civil War, Sverdlov traveled the country to engage the population against the White Armies. He fell victim to an epidemic of Spanish flu and died in Oryol and was buried in the Kremlin Wall. To honor his memory, Yekaterinburg was named Sverdlovsk in 1924, but the city reverted to its old name after the fall of the Soviet Union in December 1991.

Yakov Sverdlov was the younger brother of the French Army officer Zinovi Pechkov (1884-1963).

Zinovi Pechkov

Zinovi Alekseievitch Pechkov (also Pechkoff) (born Yeshua Zalman Sverdlov) (1884-1963), officer of the French army, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. In 1902, he converted to the Russian Orthodox Church, which led to his biological father rejecting him. The Russian writer Maxim Gorky, his godfather and namesake, adopted him de facto, and Pechkov accompanied Gorky to France and Italy.

When WW I began, Pechkov joined the French Foreign Legion voluntarily in 1914. He lost his right arm in action in 1915. After that, he was sent to Kolchak's White Army during the Russian Civil War.

In 1923, he became a French citizen. From 1921 to 1926, he fought in the Rif War in Morocco as an officer in the Foreign Legion under Marshal Lyautey. Later, he commanded them himself from 1937 to 1940, and in 1943, he was promoted to brigadier general.

During his career, Pechkov met General de Gaulle in London in 1941. He was entrusted with significant missions in Africa and the Far East, including serving as the head of the French liaison mission to the Allied occupation forces in Japan from 1946 to 1950. In 1964, he held talks with Chiang Kai-shek, the President of the Republic of China in Taiwan.

In the Soviet Union, Pechkov was viewed as a traitor. As a result, Stalinist censors removed him from the famous photo that shows him as a spectator at a chess game between Lenin and Bogdanov in April 1908. Pechkov died in Paris.

Zinovi Pechkov was the elder brother of the Russian revolutionary Yakov Sverdlov (1885-1919).