Ivan Ivanovich Mezhlauk (30 September 1891-25 April 1938) was General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan from 1924 to 1926, preceding Shaymardan Ibragimov, and President of the Turkmen SSR from 1924 to 1925, preceding Khalmurad Sakhatmuradov.
Biography[]
Ivan Ivanovich Mezhlauk was born in Kharkiv, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire on 30 September 1891 to a family of Latvian descent; he was the brother of Valery Mezhlauk. He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1918 and served in the Red Army during the Russian Civil War, serving as President of the Turkmen SSR from 1924 to 1925 and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Turkmenistan from 1924 to 1926. From 1930 to 1933, he was involved in economic planning. In 1937, the Mezhlauk brothers were arrested and sentenced to death during the Great Purge, and they were executed by firing squad on 25 April 1938.