Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria

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Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria

Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria , 1899-1953, Soviet Communist leader, b. Georgia. He rose to prominence in the Cheka (secret police) in Georgia and the Transcaucasus, became party secretary in these areas, and in 1938 became head of the secret police. As commissar (later minister) of internal affairs, Beria wielded great power, and he was the first in this post to become (1946) a member of the politburo. After Stalin's death (Mar., 1953), Beria was made first deputy premier under Premier Malenkov , but the alliance was shaky; in the ensuing struggle for power Beria was arrested (July) on charges of conspiracy. He and six alleged accomplices were tried secretly and shot in Dec., 1953.

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Beria, Lavrenti Pavlovich

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Â© World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Beria, Lavrenti Pavlovich (1899–1953) Soviet politician, chief (1938–53) of the secret police (NKVD). Beria headed the Cheka, predecessor of the NKVD, in Transcaucasia in the 1920s. He helped Stalin to conduct the purges of the Communist Party and ruthlessly controlled internal security. When Stalin died he was arrested and executed for treason.

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"Beria, Lavrenti Pavlovich." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 24 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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	Lavrenti Beria executed: December 23rd, 1953.(Months Past)(Biography) Magazine article from: History Today; 12/1/2003; ; 700+ words ; LAVRENTI PAVLOVICH Beria was a Georgian, like Stalin, who called him 'my Himmler...succeeded Yezhov, who was shot on Stalin's orders, apparently at Beria's prompting. Beria, who went on to run the Soviet network of slave-labour camps...
	Putin and Georgia Officials Intensify Rhetoric in Dispute; President Calls Russians' Arrests 'State Terrorism' Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 10/2/2006; ; 700+ words ; ...dictator Joseph Stalin's secret police chief, Lavrenti Beria, who, like Stalin, was a Georgian known for bloodthirsty...on the crisis. "It is a sign of the legacy of Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria's policy." On Thursday, Russia recalled its...
	Anniversaries Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 3/18/1994; 700+ words ; ...psychologist, 1886; Wilfred Owen, poet, 1893; Betty Compson (Eleanor Luicime Compson), actress, 1897; Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria, chief of the Russian secret police, 1899; Friederich Robert Donat, actor, 1905. Deaths: St Edward the...