The Cheka (ЧК - чрезвычайная комиссия Chrezvychaynaya Komissiya, Russian pronunciation: [tɕɛka]) was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was create by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by a communist Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky. After 1922, the Cheka underwent a series of reorganizations.