Salchak Toka

Salchak Kalbakkhorekovich Toka (Russian: Салчак Калбакхорекович Тока, 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1901 – 11 May 1973) was a Tuvan and Soviet politician. He was General Secretary of the Tuvinian department of the CPSU from 1944 to 1973; previously, he was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party and was the supreme ruler of the Tuvan People's Republic from 1932 until its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1944.[1]

Salchak Kalbakkhorekovich Toka
(Russian: Салчак Калбакхорекович Тока)
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party
In office
6 March 1932  10 October 1944
Preceded byIrgit Shagdyrzhap
Succeeded byPosition renamed
First Secretary of the Oblast Committee of the CPSU of the Tuvan Autonomous Oblast
In office
13 October 1944  10 October 1961
Preceded byPosition renamed
Succeeded byPosition renamed
First Secretary of the Republican Committee of the CPSU of the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic
In office
11 October 1961  11 May 1973
Preceded byPosition renamed
Succeeded byGrigoriy Shirshin
Personal details
Born(1901-12-15)15 December 1901
Mergen Lamaiin Hiid, Qing Mongolia, Qing Dynasty
Died11 May 1973(1973-05-11) (aged 71)
Kyzyl, Tuvan ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
CitizenshipSoviet, Tuvan, Qing dynasty
NationalityTuvan
Political partyCPSU (1944–1973)
Other political
affiliations
Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party (1921–1944)
Spouse(s)
(m. 1940)
Signature

Biography

Salchak Toka was a member of the Communist University of the Toilers of the East (Russian: Коммунистический университет трудящихся Востока, Kommunisticheskiy universitet trudyashchikhsya Vostoka) in Moscow and Kyzyl. In 1929, the Soviets arrested the head of state Donduk Kuular. Meanwhile, five Tuvan graduates of the Communist University of the Toilers of the East were appointed commissars extraordinary to Tuva. Their loyalty to Stalin ensured that they would pursue policies, such as collectivization, that Donduk had ignored. A coup was launched in 1929. On 6 March 1932, Salchak Toka replaced Donduk as General Secretary of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party.

Statue of Toka

Salchak Toka established close contacts with Joseph Stalin. After the execution of Donduk Kuular in 1932, Salchak Toka became the ruler of Tannu Tuva. He introduced a communist ideology after the Soviet model, the nomad agriculture was collectivised and the traditional religions (Tibetan Buddhism and Shamanism) were suppressed. A personal cult developed around him, and he was awarded numerous Soviet prizes for his literary works.

In 1940 he married Khertek Anchimaa, who was Chairwoman of the Little Khural.[2] In 1944 he requested that Tannu Tuva should be annexed by the Soviet Union. The event took place on 30 October 1944 de jure via Mikhail Kalinin. Tuva was initially an autonomous oblast of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and starting from 10 October 1961 as the Tuvan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Tuva ASSR). Salchak Toka remained up to his death in 1973 the General Secretary of the Tuvan department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

References

  1. Adle, Chahryar (1 January 2005). History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Towards the contemporary period – From the mid-nineteenth to the end of the twentieth Century. UNESCO. p. 337. ISBN 9789231039850.
  2. Jackson, Guida M. (20 August 2009). Women Leaders of Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Pacific: A Biographical Reference. Xlibris Corporation. p. 158. ISBN 9781469113531.
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