M. Sverdlov speaking from the armoured car Red Zamoskvorechye on Red Square, Moscow, May 1. 1918. Photo by A. Dorn. He was a Bolshevik party administrator and chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee from 1917 to 1919. He is sometimes regarded as the first head of state of the Soviet Union although it was not established until 1922, three years after his death.