He joined the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) party as a
Menshevik in 1905. In March 1917 he joined the
Bolsheviks as the member of the Kyiv Committee, later joining the Kyiv
revkom as well. He was one of few who initiated the organization of the Congress of the Workers-Peasants and Soldiers deputies as well as the military coup in
Kyiv. Zatonsky participated in the fight against the
Central Rada. ,
Andrei Bubnov, 1918 When the
Red Army took over Kyiv in 1918 after the
January Uprising, Zatonsky recalled that he only narrowly escaped execution as a
counterrevolutionary when only
Vladimir Lenin's mandate saved his life. At the beginning of 1918 he was the Head of the Ukrainian delegation from the
Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets for the
Brest-Litovsk Peace Conference. From March 19 to April 18, 1918, he was Chairman of the
All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee. In July 1918 he was a
commissar of a
strike force against the
Left Socialist-Revolutionary rebellion in
Moscow. Beginning in November 1918 he was the
Narkom of People's Education. While in that post he did everything in his power to shut down the
Kamyanets-Podilsky State University as the concentration of the
counter-revolutionary forces of
Symon Petliura. From 1968 to 1997 the institute was named after Zatonsky. He personally was offered a position by Lenin as a representative of the
Soviet Ukrainian People's Republic in the
Russian SFSR. On November 17–30, 1918, Zatonsky,
Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko and
Joseph Stalin became members of the Revolutionary Military Council (RMC) of the
Special Group of Kursk Troops. The RMC developed a military-strategic plan for the liberation of Ukraine, and began to staff the front with troops. The headquarters of the formation was located in Kursk. From November 30, 1918, Zatonsky was a member of the RMC of the
Ukrainian Soviet Army. In 1920 he was chairman of
Galrevkom. In 1921 he received the
Order of the Red Banner for the suppression of the
Kronshtadt mutiny. Afterwards he held various government and Party positions in the Ukrainian Socialist Soviet Republic. In 1922 he was one of the persons who signed for the establishment of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as the representative of the Ukrainian SSR. In September 1933 Zatonsky was appointed as chief editor of the
Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia. ==Arrest and death==