Nikolai Podgorny
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny[a] (18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903 – 12 January 1983) was a Soviet statesman who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union, from 1965 to 1977.
"Podgorny" redirects here. For other uses, see Podgorny (disambiguation).
Nikolai Podgorny
18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903
Karlovka, Russian Empire (now Karlivka, Ukraine)
12 January 1983 (aged 79)
Moscow, Soviet Union
Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1930–1976)
Natalya Nikolayevna Podgornaya (1908–1995)
Natalia and Lesia
Podgorny was born to a Ukrainian working-class family in the city of Karlovka on 18 February 1903.
He later graduated from a local worker's school in 1926 before completing his education at the Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry in 1931. In 1930, Podgorny became a member of the ruling Communist Party of the Soviet Union and climbed up the Soviet hierarchy after years of service to the country's centrally planned economy. By 1953, Podgorny became Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1953 before later serving as First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine from 1957 to 1963.
In October 1964, Podgorny participated in a coup replacing Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Thereafter, as a member of the collective leadership, Podgorny formed an unofficial Triumvirate (also known by its Russian name Troika) alongside Premier Alexei Kosygin and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. On 6 December 1965, he replaced Anastas Mikoyan as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. After Kosygin's standing was damaged in the wake of the Prague Spring crisis in 1968, Podgorny emerged as the second-most powerful figure in the country behind Brezhnev.[2] Thereafter, his influence over policy declined as Brezhnev consolidated his control over the regime. By June 1977, he was removed as Chairman of the Presidium as well as a member of the Politburo. Upon his removal from the Soviet leadership, Podgorny was forced to resign from active politics and sidelined in Soviet affairs until his death in 1983.
Early life[edit]
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny was born on 18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903 in Karlovka, Russian Empire (now Ukraine), to a Ukrainian working-class family. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, Podgorny became one of the founders of the Karlovka branch of the Komsomol, and served as a Secretary of the Komsomol from 1921 to 1923. Podgorny started work at the age of 17 as a student at the mechanical workshops in Karlovka. In 1926, Podgorny graduated from a local workers' school. In 1930, Podgorny became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), the ruling party of the Soviet Union.
In 1931, Podgorny graduated from the Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry and started working in the sugar industry. Podgorny was promoted to deputy chief engineer of Vinnytsia in 1937 and was promoted in 1939 as the chief engineer of the Kamenetz-Podolsk Oblast sugar trusts. By the end of 1939, Podgorny had become Deputy People's Commissar for Food Industry of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR). The next year, Podgorny was appointed Deputy People's Commissar for Food Industry of the Soviet Union.[3]
Post-Khrushchev troika (1964–1977)[edit]
Struggle for power[edit]
In the aftermath of Khrushchev's removal, a collective leadership known as a troika was formed, headed by Brezhnev as First Secretary, Alexei Kosygin as head of government, and Anastas Mikoyan as head of state.[8]
Before becoming head of state, Podgorny served as the party's Second Secretary, and was therefore in charge of the Party's Organisational Division. In this capacity, Podgorny threatened Brezhnev's position as First Secretary because the Organisational Division, if Podgorny chose so, could easily be turned into his own power base within the party. Due to this risk, Brezhnev allied himself with Alexander Shelepin, the KGB chairman, to oppose both Podgorny and Kosygin.[9]
Podgorny's position was constantly threatened by Brezhnev and his allies. In an article in Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta from February 1965, the newspaper criticised the Kharkiv Party organisation which Podgorny had previously headed, but also its management of the economy. By indirectly criticising Podgorny, the article raised doubts about his qualifications as a leading member of the Soviet leadership. Podgorny launched a counterattack in his 1965 speech in Baku, Azerbaijani Soviet Socialist Republic, where he criticised the Soviet leadership's heavy industrial policy. This, as it turned out, would be a move he would regret for life. Instead of offending just Brezhnev and Shelepin, he offended the whole conservative wing of the leadership. To make matters even worse for Podgorny, Mikhail Suslov, who had kept outside of the conflict, sided with Brezhnev, and called his views "revisionist". Later in December 1965, Podgorny relinquished his seat in the Secretariat, and took Mikoyan's place as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.[10] According to Ilya Zemstov, his departure from the Secretariat signaled the end of his wish to assume the First Secretaryship.[11]
Retirement, death and recognition[edit]
Podgorny's life after his resignation is not well documented. The last mention of him in any major Soviet media was his meeting with Urho Kekkonen, the President of Finland. There was never any explanation given, nor a denunciation of him, by the Soviet authorities.[25] Podgorny retained his seat in the Supreme Soviet after his downfall. He was seen at the 61st anniversary reception of the October Revolution at the Grand Palace of the Kremlin in November 1978 by Tokichiro Uomoto, the Japanese Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Podgorny spoke to Brezhnev, Kosygin, and then to Andrei Gromyko, all of whom looked embarrassed by the presence of Podgorny, according to Uomoto. Soon after this incident, Podgorny lost his seat in the Supreme Soviet. In Tretyakov Gallery, Podgorny was removed from the 1977 painting of the Soviet leaders at the Red Square by Dmitry Nalbandyan in which Podgorny stood between Brezhnev and Kosygin.[29] Podgorny died of cancer in Kiev on 12 January 1983, and was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery.[3]
As with many other high-standing Soviet officials, Podgorny was honoured with several awards. He was awarded five Orders of Lenin, one Order of the Red Banner and several medals, as well as being awarded several foreign state prizes by Bangladesh, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, the Mongolian People's Republic, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, and Finland.[3]