Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan

Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan , 1895-1978, Soviet Communist leader. He joined the Communist party in 1915, became a member of the party's central committee in 1923, and subsequently held cabinet posts concerned with trade and the food industry. In 1935 he was elected to the politburo, the ruling body of the central committee of the Communist party. He held other high government posts before serving (1955-57, 1958-64) as first deputy premier. In 1964-65, Mikoyan was chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet, or titular head of state. Although not reelected to the politburo in 1966, he continued to serve on the central committee. In 1974 he was dropped from the Supreme Soviet and in 1976 from the central committee, thereby completing his retirement from public office.

Mikoyan, Anastas Ivanovich (b. 25 Nov. 1895, d. 21 Oct. 1978). President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet 1964–5 The supreme survivor of Soviet politics (second only to Kosygin) was born in Sanain (Armenia), where he was educated at a seminary. After the Russian Revolution of February 1917, he joined the Bolsheviks, and rose quickly within the ranks of the regional Caucasian party hierarchy. He became a full member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1923, was a candidate (i.e. non-voting) member of the Politburo from 1926 and full member from 1935 until his retirement in 1966. In this position he held several governmental posts, serving as Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Council of Ministers from 1946) until 1964, when he became the formal head of the Soviet Union. His career was closely linked to his fellow Caucasian, Stalin, even more so as he survived (and participated in) the Great Purge and other acts of terror. It was a testimony to his political survival skills that he retained his position despite Khrushchev's anti-Stalinist campaigns.