Sergei Kruglov (politician)
| Sergei Kruglov | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Minister of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union | |
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In office December 1945 – January 1956 |
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| Preceded by | Lavrentiy Beria |
| Succeeded by | Nikolay Dudorov |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov Russian: Серге́й Никифорович Круглов October 2, 1907 Ustye, Zubtsov Uyezd, Tver Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | June 6, 1977 (aged 69) Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov (Russian: Серге́й Ники́форович Кругло́в; October 2, 1907 – June 6, 1977) was the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Soviet Union from December 1945 to March 1953 and again from June 1953 until January 1956. He held the military rank of Colonel General. Kruglov was a person of excellent education, and was known for his mild temper and generosity to his staff; nevertheless, he was involved in several brutal actions of the Soviet security forces, including the deportations of several ethnic groups such as Chechens and Ingushes. These actions occurred in the 1940s and were carried out alongside his comrade-in-arms General Ivan Serov.
Kruglov was fluent in several foreign languages, including English, and was awarded the Legion of Merit and created an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for organizing the security of the Yalta Conference and the Potsdam Conference during World War II.
Sergei Kruglov was born on October 2, 1907, in a village in the Tver province in Russia; his family was of poor peasant stock, but Kruglov himself went on to receive an excellent education, studying at the Karl Liebknecht Institute in Moscow, the Japanese Department of the Soviet Institute of Eastern Cultures and the very prestigious Institute of Red Professors. His education was mostly about politics, international affairs, and foreign languages, in strong contrast with the scientists, economists and engineers that predominated in the Soviet political elite.
Kruglov began working for the Soviet security forces in the early 1930s. In December 1938 he was made a Special Plenipotentiary of NKVD (Особоуполномоченный НКВД), as a part of the Great Purge, with responsibilities of investigating and prosecuting NKVD personnel. He played an active role in purging NKVD of protégés of Nikolai Ezhov.
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