LEVINÉ, EUGENE

LEVINÉ, EUGENE (Nissen Berg; 1883–1919), revolutionary, socialist politician, and journalist. Leviné was born in St. Petersburg into a wealthy family. From 1896 he lived in Heidelberg, Germany where he graduated from high school and also attended university. In 1904 he returned to Russia, joined the Social Revolutionary Party on the outbreak of the 1905 revolution, and was imprisoned by the czarist authorities. He was released in 1908 and allowed to go to Germany for medical treatment. He remained there and joined the Social Democratic Party. In 1913 he was a member of the "Spartacus League," and later among the founders of the German Communist party. Leviné became a German citizen, joined the army on the outbreak of World War I, and was discharged in 1916 for reasons of health. Subsequently, he became a member   of the Independent Social Democratic Party and then of the Communist Party, editing the party newspaper, Rote Fahne. He took part in the November 1918 revolution and in the January 1919 fighting in Berlin. Following the Bavarian uprising of November 1918, Leviné became chairman of the Council of People's Commissars in the Bavarian Soviet Republic of 1919. Two weeks later, when the republic was overthrown, Leviné was tried for treason and executed. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: O.M. Graf, Prisoners All (1928); G. Schmolze, in: Emuna (1969), 329–36.