Born in Kishinev, Bessarabia, Russian Empire, into the prosperous family of a Jewish pharmacist,[1][2] Yakir graduated from the local secondary school in 1914.

Because of Imperial Russian governmental restrictions on Jews' access to higher education, Yakir studied abroad at the University of Basel in Switzerland, in the field of chemistry.

[1][2] After the outbreak of World War I (1914), he returned to the Russian Empire and worked as a turner in a military factory in Odessa, Ukraine (he was a reservist).

When Romania intervened to recapture Bessarabia, Yakir led Bolshevik resistance, but the regular Romanian army overwhelmed his small force.

[1][2] Yakir retreated to Ukraine and fought against Austro-Hungarian occupation forces as a commander of a Chinese regiment of the Red Army.

For his services, he became the second individual (after Vasily Blyukher) to receive the highest Soviet military award of that time, the Order of the Red Banner (engraved as No.

He breached the encirclement and led his forces through the enemy rear for a distance of 400 kilometres (250 mi) to join the Red Army in Zhitomir.

[1][2][5] Like other Bolshevik commanders who did not have military education he was assisted in this operation by former tsarist army officers on his staff but this fact does not negate his own role in planning and leading the campaign.

[1][2][8] Yakir, in close coordination with Tukhachevsky and other reformers, made his district into a laboratory for wide-ranging experiments in strategy, tactical and operational techniques, army formations and equipment.

[1][10] Following repeated requests from German officers, Yakir gave special lectures on the Russian Civil War.

Not a military theorist in his own right, Yakir strongly supported Tukhachevsky's endeavor in developing the theory of deep operations.

In 1934 Yakir requested that Tukhachevsky be appointed to conduct advanced courses on operational theory for high-ranking officers of the Red Army General Staff and commanders of military districts.

The event resulted in several cover-page articles in the Defense Comissariat's official journal, Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star).

French general Lucien Loizeau made very favorable comments about the technical and moral readiness of the Red Army.

[citation needed] Stalin, who was consolidating his power over the country, approved Yakir's appointment to the Ukrainian Military District in 1925.

[1][2] While ingenious and independent in his thinking as a military commander, in Soviet politics he was a docile party member and followed the Stalinist line.

Yakir was one of few top Soviet commanders who appealed to Stalin, even travelled to Moscow and tried to convince Voroshilov in person, claiming the innocence of these officers.

[citation needed] Yakir and the other seven commanders were executed in Moscow, virtually right after their trial at the dawn of 12 June 1937, without even reading their appeals.

Members of the Yakir family were either immediately executed, like his younger brother, Moris Emmanuilovich (1902–1937), or sent to Gulag labor camps: Yakir's younger sister, Isabella Emmanuilovna (1900–1986) served there 10 years while his wife, Sarra Lazarevna (1900–1971) and his then-14-year-old son, Pyotr Ionovich (1923–1982),[22] spent almost 20 years there.

As a young Civil War commander, he is thought to have used excessive force and violence (flamethrowers, machine guns) against civilian members of the resistance as well as the Cossack population, and was also involved in requisition.

He also had other characteristics translated as vices by the puritan Stalin: Yakir never made a secret of his luxurious Kiev lifestyle (he lived in one of the palaces of the Mezhyhirya Residence), and he also lent dachas for profit and never ceased his involvement in trading.

On 10 June 1937, only 2 days before his execution, he wrote an extensive letter to Nikolay Yezhov, head of the NKVD, about his observations and the important duties in the field of military.

The Soviets suffered terrible defeats and huge human and territorial losses before remastering modern operational approaches and tactics.