Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev Никита Хрущёв
Khrushchev in East Berlin, 1963
First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 14 September 1953 – 14 October 1964
Preceded by	Georgy Malenkov (de facto)
Succeeded by	Leonid Brezhnev
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office 27 March 1958 – 14 October 1964
First Deputies	See list Frol Kozlov Alexei Kosygin Dmitriy Ustinov Lazar Kaganovich Anastas Mikoyan
Preceded by	Nikolai Bulganin
Succeeded by	Alexei Kosygin
Personal details
Born	Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894-04-15)15 April 1894 Kalinovka, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	11 September 1971(1971-09-11) (aged 77) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Soviet
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse(s)	Yefrosinia Khrushcheva (1916–19, died) Marusia Khrushcheva (1922, separated) Nina Kukharchuk (Khrushcheva) (1923–71, survived as widow)
Children	Yulia (1915-1981) Leonid (1917-1943) Rada (1929-2016) Sergei (1935) Elena (1937-1972)
Alma mater	Industrial Academy
Awards
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service/branch	Red Army
Years of service	1941–45
Rank	Lieutenant General
Commands	Soviet Armed Forces
Battles/wars	World War II
Central institution membership 1939–64: Full member, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd Presidium 1949–64: 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd Secretariat 1949–52: 18th Orgburo 1938–39: Candidate member, 17th Politburo 1934–64: Full member, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 22nd Central Committee Other offices held 1956–64: Chairman, Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian SFSR 1947–49: First Secretary, Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) 1938–47: First Secretary, Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) 1949–53: First Secretary, Moscow Regional Committee 1944–47: Chairman, Ukrainian Council of Ministers 1938–47: First Secretary, Kiev Regional Committee 1938–47: First Secretary, Kiev City Committee 1935–38: First Secretary, Moscow Regional Committee 1934–50: First Secretary, Moscow City Committee

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (15 April [O.S. 3 April] 1894 – 11 September 1971) was a politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

Khrushchev was born in the village of Kalinovka in 1894, close to the present-day border between Russia and Ukraine. He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and during the Russian Civil War was a political commissar. With the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Joseph Stalin's purges, and approved thousands of arrests. In 1938, Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine, and he continued the purges there. During what was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of World War II), Khrushchev was again a commissar, serving as an intermediary between Stalin and his generals. Khrushchev was present at the bloody defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in throughout his life. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalin's close advisers.