Kobulov, Bogdan (1904–1953), the elder brother of Amayak, from 1922 in the Georgian CheKa. In 1938, deputy commissar of State Security of Georgia; transferred to Moscow. Head of the NKVD Investigation Department (1938–1939), head of the Main Economic Directorate (GEU) (1939–1941), deputy NKGB/NKVD commissar (1941–1945), deputy head of the Main Directorate of the Soviet Property Abroad (Germany) (1946–1953), first deputy MVD minister (March–May 1953). Arrested and tried along with Beria, Merkulov, and Dekanozov, condemned to death and shot on December 23, 1953. Not rehabilitated (Kokurin and Petrov, Lubyanka, p. 148; Petrov and Skorkin, Kto rukovodil NKVD, pp. 234–235).
Kolchak, Aleksandr (1870–1920), Russian admiral and Arctic explorer. The leader of the White movement in Siberia (1918–1920). In November 1918, pronounced supreme ruler of all Russia in the city of Omsk. In January 1920, after the defeat of his army, interrogated for nine days by Bolshevik investigators and executed by a firing squad. (Luckett, Richard, The White Generals: An Account of the White Movement and the Russian Civil War [New York: Viking Press, 1971], pp. 213–228, 343–347; Lincoln, W. Bruce, Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War [New York: Touchstone Book, 1989], pp. 19, 230–269).
Koltsov, Nikolai (1872–1940), prominent zoologist and geneticist, and an outspoken critic of Lysenko. Graduated from Moscow University (1894), then professor there (1895–1911). Also professor at the High Educational School for Women (1903–1918). In Germany, France, and Italy (1897–1900; 1902–1903). Corresponding member (1915), member of the Agricultural Academy (VASKhNIL) (1929). Organized (1917) and directed the Institute of Experimental Biology. In 1939, removed from all posts. Died on December 2, 1940, of a heart attack; the same day his wife committed suicide.
Komarov, Vladimir I. (1916–1954) joined the NKVD in 1938. Investigator at the Special Department (1939–1942), secretary to Head of the Special Department Viktor Abakumov (from 1942). Deputy head of the MGB Department for Investigation of Especially Important Cases (1946–1951). Was involved in the investigation of all main cases of that period. Arrested in 1951 after the fall of Abakumov and tried together with Abakumov and his men. Shot on December 19, 1954. Not rehabilitated (Stolyarov, Palachi i zhertvy, pp. 26–27; Petrov, “Sudy protiv chlenov NKVD-MGB,” pp. 430–431).
Komarov, Vladimir L. (1869–1945), botanist. Graduated from St. Petersburg University (1894), then professor there (1898–1934). Corresponding member (1914), academician (1920). Vice president (1930–1936), president of the academy (1936–1945); also president of the All-Union Botanical Society (1940–1945) and honorary president of the Geographical Society (1940–1945). Deputy of the USSR Supreme Soviet (1938–1945). Stalin Prize (1941 and 1942), Hero of Socialist Labor (1943).
Kondratiev, Nikolai (1892–1938), economist. Assistant minster of food supply in the Provisional Government (1918). Director of the Market Institute within the USSR Commissariat of Finances (1920–1928). Arrested on June 19, 1930, and on January 26, 1932, sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment as the alleged leader of the Labor Peasant Party (TKP). Imprisoned in the town of Suzdal. On September 17, 1938, resentenced to death on charges of organizing the TKP, directing its activity, and the counterrevolutionary activity in Suzdal Prison. Shot immediately after the trial. Rehabilitated in 1963.
Kovalev, Sergei (b. 1930), biophysicist and human rights activist. Graduated from Moscow State University (1954). At the Belozersky Laboratory of Bioorganic Chemistry of Moscow University. Joined the Initiative Group for Human Rights in Moscow (May 1969). An editor of the underground magazine Chronicle of Current Events (1971–1974). Expelled from the university. On December 28, 1974, arrested on the charge of alleged “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda” (Article 70 of the Soviet Criminal Code). In December 1975 tried and convicted to 7 years’ imprisonment in a labor camp and 3 years of exile. Spent the term in Perm labor camps and Chistopol Prison. Later lived in the town of Kalinin (now Tver). In 1986 returned to Moscow and joined the Moscow Helsinki Group. In 1990, elected deputy of the Russian Federation Supreme Council (1990–1993) and then lower State Duma chamber of the Russian Parliament. Chaired the Committee on Human Rights of the Supreme Council (1990–1993) and Commission on Human Rights under the Russian president (1993–1996). His furious fight against human rights violations during the Chechen war (1994–1996) resulted in his dismissal. Beginning in 1990, cochairman of Memorial. In 2001, was still a member of the Duma, representing the liberal Union of the Rightists (SPS).
Kravchenko, Valentin (1906–1956) joined the NKVD in 1937. An engineer at the NKVD Second Special Department (1938–1939), head of the NKVD Special Technical Bureau (1939–1941), head of the NKVD/MVD Fourth Special Department (1941–1947; 1949–1953) (Petrov and Skorkin, Kto rukovodil NKVD, p. 249).
Kruglov, Sergei (1907–1977), Communist Party and MVD figure. In the Central Committee (1931–1934), then in 1938 joined the NKVD. Deputy NKVD commissar (1939–1941), at different positions in the army and NKVD (1941–1943), first deputy NKVD commissar (1943–1945), NKVD/MVD commissar/minister (1945–53), first deputy MVD minister (March–June 1953), MVD minister (1953–1956). In 1956, demoted to deputy minister of construction of hydroelectric stations. Deputy head of a regional industry office (1957–1958). Retired in 1958. In 1945, awarded with an honorary British knighthood (Petrov and Skorkin, Kto rukovodil NKVD, pp. 251–252).
Krupskaya, Nadezhda (1869–1939), Lenin’s wife, secretary, and coworker. The daughter of a tsarist official. Married Lenin in 1897 in order to accompany him to exile to Siberia. After Lenin’s death in 1924, held nonimportant Party positions. Silenced by Stalin during the purges of the 1930s. In 1938, did not defend Bukharin, who appealed to her during his show trial. Died in 1939, possibly from poisoning.
Krylenko, Nikolai (1885–1938), prosecutor and organizer of the Soviet court system. Joined the Bolshevik Party in 1904. The Bolshevik Party’s representative in the Duma (1913), and then in exile to Switzerland. Returned in 1917. A member of the Petrograd Military Revolutionary Committee, supreme commander in chief and political commissar for military affairs. Russian chief prosecutor of the Supreme Tribunal (March 1918), chairman of the Economic Department of the VCheKa (1920). The principal prosecutor in the major trials of the 1920s. The Russian Federation commissar for justice (1931–1933), the USSR commissar for justice (1936–1938). Arrested on February 1, 1938, and tried and executed on July 29, 1938. Rehabilitated in 1955.
Krzhizhanovsky, Gleb (1872–1959), Party and Soviet science figure. A Party member from 1893, a Central Committee member (1924–1939). Head of the first energy committee, Goelro (State Energy Committee) (1920–1925), and then Glavenergo (1930–1932), of the State Planning Committee, Gosplan (1925–1930), deputy commissar of education (1932–1936). Academician (1929), director of the Academy Institute of Energy (1930–1959), vice president of the academy (1929–1939).
Ksenofontov, Ivan (1884–1926), Party and VCheKa figure. Joined the Party in 1903. One of the founder-members of the VCheKa Collegium, deputy chairman of the VCheKa (1919–1921), chairman of the VCheKa and other tribunals. Head of Stalin’s Private Secretariat (1921–1926) (Leggett, The CHEKA, p. 452).