Malenkov, Georgy Maksimilianovich

Malenkov, Georgy Maksimilianovich (b. 8 Jan. 1902, d. 23 Jan. 1988). Chairman of the Soviet Council of Ministers 1953–5 Born in Orenburg, he joined the Red Army in 1919 and fought in the Russian Civil War in Turkistan. He joined the Bolsheviks in 1920 and became a close associate of Stalin. He rose through the party ranks and was deeply involved in the Great Purge 1934–8. During World War II he served on the Defence Council. In 1946, he became a member of the Politburo and a deputy Prime Minister. Generally considered the most likely of Stalin's successors, on Stalin's death in 1953 he became Chairman of the Council of Ministers (i.e. Prime Minister). Though he quickly tried to distance himself from his erstwhile mentor through pronouncing more liberal views, he was effectively outmanoeuvred by Khrushchev's de-Stalinization campaign, which served to highlight his involvement in Stalin's terror. After a failed attempt to oust Khrushchev, as leader of the ‘anti-party group’ he was expelled from the party Central Committee in 1957, and was sent to recover from the stress of Moscow politics as manager of the Ust'Kamenogorsk hydroelectric plant in eastern Kazakhstan. He died in Moscow.