First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union

Last updated
First Deputy Premier of the
Soviet Union
Первый заместитель Председателя Совета Народных Комиссаров СССР (1923–1946)
Первый заместитель Председателя Совета министров СССР (1946–1991)
Первый заместитель премьер-министра СССР (1991)
Coat of arms of the Soviet Union 1.svg
Kirill Mazurov.jpg
Longest serving
Kirill Mazurov

26 March 1965 – 28 November 1978
TypeDeputy head of government
Reports to Premier
Formation14 May 1934
First holder Valerian Kuybyshev
Final holder Vladimir Shcherbakov  [ ru ]
Abolished26 November 1991
Succession First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia

The first deputy premier of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Despite the title, the office was not always held by a single individual. The office bore three different titles throughout its existence: First Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (1923–1946), First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers (1946–1991), and First Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union (1991). The term "first deputy premier" was used by outside commentators to describe the office of first deputy head of government.

Contents

A first deputy premier was responsible for a specific policy area. For example, Kirill Mazurov was responsible for industry, while Dmitry Polyansky was responsible for agriculture in the Soviet Union. [1] :34 In addition, an officeholder would be responsible for coordinating the activities of ministries, state committees, and other bodies subordinated to the government. It was expected that a First Deputy gave these organs guidance in an expeditious manner to ensure the implementation of plans for economic and social development and to check if the orders and decisions of the government were being followed. If the premier could not perform his duties one of the first deputies would take on the role of acting premier until the premier's return. [2] During the late 1970s, when the health of Premier Alexei Kosygin deteriorated, First Deputy Premier Nikolai Tikhonov acted on his behalf as during his absence. [3] Finally, a first deputy was by right a member of the government Presidium, its highest decision-making organ. [1] :30

Twenty-six individuals held the office of first deputy premier. The first officeholder was Valerian Kuibyshev, who was inaugurated in 1934. Lavrentiy Beria spent the shortest time in office, serving for 113 days. At more than seventeen years, Vyacheslav Molotov spent the longest time in office, and held his position for most of Joseph Stalin's chairmanship, as well as through the chairmanships of Georgy Malenkov and Nikolai Bulganin.

Officeholders

No. [lower-alpha 1] PortraitName
(Birth–Death)
Term of office Premier Other offices held while
First Deputy Premier
Ref.
Took officeLeft officeTime in office
1 Valerian Vladimirovich Kuibyshev.jpg Valerian Kuybyshev
(1888–1935)
14 May 193425 January 1935 †256 days Vyacheslav Molotov Chairman of the Soviet People's Control Commission [4] [5]
2 Voznesenskiy NA.jpg Nikolai Voznesensky
(1895–1950)
10 March 194115 March 19465 years, 5 days Vyacheslav Molotov
Joseph Stalin
Chairman of the State Planning Commission [6]
3 Molotov.bra.jpg Vyacheslav Molotov
(1890–1986)
16 August 194229 June 195711 years, 106 days Joseph Stalin
Georgy Malenkov
Nikolai Bulganin
Minister of Foreign Affairs [7] [8]
4 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-29921-0001, Bulganin, Nikolai Alexandrowitsch (cropped).jpg Nikolai Bulganin
(1895–1975)
7 April 19508 February 19554 years, 307 days Joseph Stalin
Georgy Malenkov
Minister of Defence [9] [10]
5 Lavrenti-Beria.jpg Lavrentiy Beria
(1899–1953)
5 March 195326 June 1953113 days Georgy Malenkov Minister of Internal Affairs [11]
6 Lazar' Moiseevich Kaganovich.jpg Lazar Kaganovich
(1893–1991)
5 March 195329 June 19574 years, 141 days Georgy Malenkov
Nikolai Bulganin
Nikita Khrushchev
Minister of Building Materials Industry
Chairman of the State Committee of the
Council of Ministers for Labour and Wages
[12] [13]
[14]
7 Anastas Ivanovich Mikoian.jpg Anastas Mikoyan
(1895–1978)
28 February 195515 July 19649 years, 138 days Nikolai Bulganin
Nikita Khrushchev
Main diplomat to Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis
[15]
8 Bundesarchiv Bild 183-77054-0001, Pervukin AdK der UdSSR (detail).jpg Mikhail Pervukhin
(1904–1974)
28 February 19555 July 19572 years, 127 days Nikolai Bulganin Chairman of the State Economic Commission on Current Economic Planning [16]
9 Maksim Saburov
(1900–1977)
28 February 19555 July 19572 years, 127 days Nikolai Bulganin Chairman of the State Planning Committee [17]
10 Joseph Kuzmin
(1910–1996)
28 February 19555 July 19572 years, 127 days Nikolai Bulganin Chairman of the State Planning Committee [18]
11 Frol Kozlov
(1908–1965)
31 March 19584 May 19602 years, 34 days Nikita Khrushchev Chairman of the State Planning Committee [19]
12 05.11.1966. Kossiguine a Toulouse. (1966) - 53Fi3436 (cropped).jpg Alexei Kosygin
(19041980)
4 May 196015 October 19644 years, 164 days Nikita Khrushchev
[20]
13 Dmitry Ustinov (colorized, full).jpg Dmitriy Ustinov
(1908–1984)
13 March 196326 March 19652 years, 13 days Nikita Khrushchev
Alexei Kosygin
[21]
14 Kirill Mazurov.jpg Kirill Mazurov
(1914–1989)
26 March 196528 November 197813 years, 247 days Alexei Kosygin First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia [22]
15 Dmitry Polyansky.jpg Dmitry Polyansky
(1917–2001)
2 October 19652 February 19737 years, 123 days Alexei Kosygin
[23]
16 Nikolai Tikhonov.jpg Nikolai Tikhonov
(1905–1997)
2 September 197623 October 19804 years, 51 days Alexei Kosygin
[24]
17 Ivan Arkhipov
(1907–1998)
27 October 19804 October 19865 years, 342 days Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
[25]
18 Officer Heydar Aliyev.jpg Heydar Aliyev
(1923–2003)
24 November 198223 October 19874 years, 333 days Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Ryzhkov
First Secretary of the Azerbaijan Communist Party [26] [27]
19 Andrei Gromyko 1972 (cropped).jpg Andrei Gromyko
(1909–1989)
24 March 19832 July 19852 years, 100 days Nikolai Tikhonov Minister of Foreign Affairs [28] [29]
20 Nikolai Talyzin
(1929–1991)
14 October 19851 October 19882 years, 353 days Nikolai Ryzhkov Chairman of the State Planning Committee [30]
21 Vsevolod Murakhovski
(1926–2017)
1 November 19857 June 19893 years, 218 days Nikolai Ryzhkov Chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers for Agriculture [31]
22 Yury Maslyukov (duma.gov.ru).jpg Yuri Maslyukov
(1937–2010)
5 February 198826 December 19902 years, 324 days Nikolai Ryzhkov Chairman of the State Planning Committee [32] [33]
23 Lev Voronin
(1928–2008)
17 July 198926 December 19901 year, 162 days Nikolai Ryzhkov
[34]
24 Vladilen Nikitin
(1936–2021)
27 July 198930 August 19901 year, 34 days Nikolai Ryzhkov
[35]
25 Vladimir Makarovich Velichko.jpg Vladimir Velichko
(born 1937)
15 January 199126 November 1991315 days Valentin Pavlov
Ivan Silayev
Minister of Heavy Machine Building [36] [37]
26 Vitaly Doguzhiyev
(1935–2016)
15 January 199126 November 1991315 days Valentin Pavlov
Ivan Silayev
[37]
27 Vladimir Shcherbakov.jpg Vladimir Shcherbakov

(born 1949)

16 May 199126 November 1991194 days Valentin Pavlov
Ivan Silayev
[37]

See also

Notes

  1. These numbers are not official.

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