Kirov had been one of Lenin's closest allies during the revolution. His popularity (he was dubbed "the favorite of the Communist Party") had led to his Stalin-authorized assassination in 1934. Kirov's death was blamed on counter-revolutionary conspiracy and served as a starting point of the bloodiest wave of purges in Soviet history. Unlike many other Bolshevik leaders, Kirov was never declared "an enemy of the people" and was invariably praised in Soviet history books regardless of the changes in leadership. Countless towns, city streets, factories, state farms etc throughout the Soviet Union were given his name and many in Russia still bear it even now.