Salchak Toka

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Kalbakkhorekovich and the family name is Toka.

Salchak Kalbakkhorekovich Toka (Russian: Салчак Калбакхорекович Тока, 15 December [O.S. 2 December] 1901 – 11 May 1973) was a Tuvan and later, Soviet politician. He was General Secretary of the Tuvan 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 Toka
Салчак Тока
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party
In office 6 March 1932 – 10 October 1944
Preceded by	Irgit Shagdyrzhap
Succeeded by	Position renamed
First Secretary of the Tuvan Oblast Committee of the CPSU
In office 13 October 1944 – 10 October 1961
Preceded by	Position renamed
Succeeded by	Position renamed
First Secretary of the Tuvan Republican Committee of the CPSU
In office 11 October 1961 – 11 May 1973
Preceded by	Position renamed
Succeeded by	Grigoriy Shirshin
Personal details
Born	(1901-12-15)15 December 1901 Mergen Lamaiin Hiid, Outer Mongolia, Qing China
Died	11 May 1973(1973-05-11) (aged 71) Kyzyl, Tuvan ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Qing China  Tuvan People's Republic  Soviet Union
Nationality	Tuvan
Political party	CPSU (1944–1973)
Other political affiliations	Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party (1921–1944)
Spouse	Khertek Anchimaa ​ (m. 1940)​
Signature

Biography

Salchak Toka was a member of the Communist University of the Toilers of the East (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][self-published source]} In 1944 he requested that 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.

Gravestone at the town cemetery

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.