Loganovsky, Mechislav Antonovich (pseudonym: Luganets; 1895, Kielce, Poland — July 29, 1938, Kommunarka settlement, Moscow Region) — a Soviet intelligence officer, diplomat, and statesman of Polish origin. His connection to Nizhny Novgorod dates to the period 1914–1916, when he was held in custody in the Nizhny Novgorod Ostrog.[1]
Biography and Career
Born into a Polish family of civil servants. He graduated from a gymnasium in Częstochowa, Piotrków Governorate, in 1914. Before the revolution he joined the Polish Socialist Party (1914–1918) and collaborated with the Polish Military Organisation (PMO). In December 1914 he was arrested and, until March 1916, was held in prisons in Warsaw and Nizhny Novgorod. After his release he worked as an unskilled laborer and artillery inspector at Moscow (March 1916 – February 1918), and took part in the October Revolution.[1]
In 1918 he joined the RCP(b) and enrolled in the 1st Moscow Artillery Courses for Red Commanders, which he completed in January 1919. During the Civil War he commanded a battery of the 52nd Rifle Division on the Western and Southern Fronts, then became head and commissar of the intelligence section of the 15th Army headquarters (April – August 1920), and commander of an artillery battalion of the 1st Polish Red Army. From February to May 1921 he served as a special plenipotentiary of the Cheka in Moscow.[1]
Intelligence and Diplomatic Work
From May 1921, Loganovsky headed combined Soviet intelligence residencies under diplomatic cover: as secretary of the RSFSR/USSR plenipotentiary mission in Warsaw (May 1921 – September 1923), then secretary and first secretary of the USSR plenipotentiary mission in Vienna (September 1923 – May 1925). Concurrently, he was attached to the Agent Section of the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army General Staff. In 1925 he was appointed deputy chief of the Foreign Department of the OGPU (May – November 1925).[1]
From November 1925 to September 1927 he headed the political department of the USSR People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, after which he was posted as counselor and chargé d'affaires in Tehran (September 1927 – January 1931). From January 1931 he was a member of the Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade; from May 1932 to May 1937 he served as Deputy People's Commissar of Foreign Trade and Deputy People's Commissar of the Food Industry of the USSR. For his intelligence achievements he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner in 1923.[1]
Arrest, Death, and Rehabilitation
On May 16, 1937, Loganovsky was subjected to political repression. He was shot on July 29, 1938, at the NKVD special facility in Kommunarka settlement near Moscow. Posthumously rehabilitated on December 12, 1956.[1]
Sources
- Loganovsky Mechislav Antonovich + 29.07.1938 | 1937 and Other Years (1937god.info) — Loganovsky Mechislav Antonovich + 29.07.1938 — 1937 and other…