Nikolai Podgorny

Nikolai Podgorny Никола́й Подго́рный
Podgorny in 1963
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union
In office 9 December 1965 – 16 June 1977
Preceded by	Anastas Mikoyan
Succeeded by	Leonid Brezhnev
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine
In office 26 December 1957 – 2 July 1963
Preceded by	Alexei Kirichenko
Succeeded by	Petro Shelest
Full member of the 20th–21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, Politburo
In office 4 May 1960 – 24 May 1977
Candidate member of the 20th–21st Politburo
In office 18 June 1958 – 4 May 1960
Member of the 22nd Secretariat
In office 22 June 1963 – 6 December 1965
Personal details
Born	18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903 Karlovka, Russian Empire
Died	12 January 1983(1983-01-12) (aged 79) Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Nationality	Soviet
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse(s)	Natalya Nikolayevna Podgornaya (1908–1995)
Children	Natalia and Lesia
Profession	Mechanical engineer,civil servant
Signature

Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny (Russian: Никола́й Ви́кторович Подго́рный; IPA: [nʲɪkɐˈlaj ˈvʲiktərəvʲɪtɕ pɐdˈgornɨj], Ukrainian: Микола Вікторович Підгорний; 18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903 – 11 January 1983) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine from 1957 to 1963 and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1965 to 1977. He was replaced as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977 by General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. That same year he lost his seat in the Political Bureau (Politburo) and was forced to resign from active politics.

Podgorny was born in the city of Karlovka in 1903 to a Ukrainian working-class family. He graduated in from a local worker's school in 1926, and in 1931 from the Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry. He became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) in 1930. Like his friend and ally Andrei Kirilenko, Podgorny climbed up the Soviet hierarchy through the industrial ladder (delivering the production goals set by the bureaucrats in charge of the centrally planned economy). By 1953 he had become Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine. After Anastas Mikoyan's resignation, Podgorny was voted into office as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. After Premier Alexei Kosygin's fall from favour Podgorny became the second most powerful figure in the Soviet Union until his removal as head of state in 1977.