he was appointed a member of the Collegium of the People's Commissariat of Education and head of the Department of Higher Education. In July 1918, he took part in the preparation and holding of the Meeting of University Workers on the Reform of Higher Education. In November 1919, the car in which he was travelling fell through the ice into a river in Siberia. Despite being rushed back to Moscow for treatment, he died of pleurisy. Legacy The Shternberg Astronomical Institute, and the lunar crater Shternberg, are named after him. References 1865 births 1920 deaths Russian astronomers Russian revolutionaries People from Oryol Old Bolsheviks Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members People of the Russian Civil War Russian people of German descent