Zof joined the
revolutionary movement in 1910. Three years later he became a member of the
Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP). During
World War I, Zof worked as a fitter at an arms factory in
Sestroretsk, where he was in charge of the
Bolshevist underground. After the
February Revolution in 1917, Zof led the
Bolsheviks' organization in Sestroretsk and was a deputy of the
Petrograd Soviet. In July 1917, he prepared fake identity papers for
Vladimir Lenin and organized his move from Petrograd to
Razliv at the request of the RSDLP
Central Committee. Zof would then establish contact between Lenin and the Central Committee. In 1918–1919, he was appointed brigade and division
commissar and supplies manager for the 3rd Army of the Eastern Front. In 1919–1920, Zof was a member of the
Revolutionary Military Council of the
Baltic Fleet and a member of the Petrograd defense committee. In 1921–1924, he held a post of a commissar at the office of the
commander-in-chief of the
naval forces of the Republic. Between December 1924 and 1926, Zof was the
commander of the naval forces and member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR. In 1927–1929, he headed the
Sovtorgflot (Soviet Commercial Fleet) office. In 1930–1931, Zof was a deputy
People's Commissar of
Railroad Transportation. In 1931, he was appointed first deputy People's Commissar of Water Transportation. Later Zof fell into disgrace and was appointed director of the "Kompresor" factory in
Moscow. In 1937, he was arrested and sentenced to death by the
Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on June 19 on account of being involved in an "anti-Soviet terrorist organisation". Zof was executed the next day. He was posthumously
rehabilitated in 1956. == Awards ==