Nikolai Janson

Nikolai Janson (Russian: Николай Михайлович Янсон, Nikolay Mikhailovich Yanson; 24 November 1882 – 20 June 1938) was a Soviet and Estonian communist politician.

Janson was born in Saint Petersburg. He was People's Commissar for Justice (in 1929) and People's Commissar for Water Transport (named on 30 January 1931). On 13 March 1934 he was demoted to the post of Deputy People's Commissar for the offshore part. In July 1935 he lost that position, too, and in October 1935 he was named Deputy Chief of the Northern Sea Route. He was arrested on December 6, 1937 and accused of anti-Soviet espionage and sabotage. He was sentenced to death on 20 June 1938 and shot in Moscow on the same day.