Death
An official version is that Sverdlov died of influenza in Oryol during the 1918 flu pandemic, while returning to Moscow from Kharkiv. He is buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, in Moscow. Another version is that he died of tuberculosis. Historian Arkadi Waksberg claimed that there were reliable rumours that Sverdlov was beaten to death by workers in Oryol, due to his Jewish origin, and that the incident was covered up to prevent an anti-semitic outburst. Another speculation is that he was eliminated due to his involvement in an attempt to assassinate Lenin.
In 1924 Yekaterinburg was renamed Sverdlovsk in his honor. In 1991, Sverdlovsk was changed back to Yekaterinburg.
His son Andrei had a long career as an officer for the Soviet security organs (NKVD, OGPU). His niece Ida married NKVD chief Genrikh Yagoda. Sverdlov is the great uncle of Stewart Swerdlow.
The Imperial Russian Navy destroyer leader Novik (commissioned in 1913) was renamed Yakov Sverdlov in 1923. The lead ship of the Sverdlov class cruisers was also named after him.
Read more about this topic: Yakov Sverdlov
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