| Member of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party from 1915, Anastas Mikojan began his long career of party functionary and statesman in Azerbaijan, where he participated in seizing the power by Soviets. He worked as a regional Party secretary in Nizhny Novgorod and North Caucasus and was elected candidate member of the Communist Party Central Committee (1922-1923) and then full member (1923-1976). His promotion to candidate membership in the Politburo (23 Jul 1926 - 1 Feb 1935) was followed by appointment as USSR people's commissar for external and internal trade (14 Aug 1926 - 22 Nov 1930). His ministerial position was changed several times in the 1930s, when he was appointed people's commissar for procurement (22 Nov 1930 - 29 Jul 1934), then people's commissar for food-processing industry (29 Jul 1934 - 19 Jan 1938) and people's commissar for external trade (29 Nov 1938 - 15 Mar 1946). Mikojan was elected full member of the Politburo (1 Feb 1935 - 5 Oct 1952) and in 1937 he became deputy chairman of the USSR Council of People's Commissars (22 Jul 1937 - 15 Mar 1946). He headed the commission for investigation of counterrevolutionary activities of Nikolaj Buharin and Aleksej Rykov, and directed political purges in Armenia. During the World War II, Mikojan was a member of the USSR State Defense Committee (3 Feb 1942 - 4 Sep 1945) and supervised supplies to the armed forces. Mikojan assumed the post of deputy chairman of the Soviet government (19 Mar 1946 - 15 Mar 1953) when it was reorganized as the Council of Ministers in 1946. He was also external trade minister (19 Mar 1946 - 4 Mar 1949), external and internal trade minister (5 Mar 1953 - 24 Aug 1953) and trade minister (24 Aug 1953 - 22 Jan 1955). Mikojan was elected to the party's Central Committee Presidium (16 Oct 1952 - 29 Mar 1966) and held the posts of deputy chairman (27 Apr 1954 - 28 Feb 1955) and first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers (28 Feb 1955 - 15 Jul 1964). As a supporter of Iosif Stalin, Mikojan was one of the few party leaders, who survived the clash between Nikita Hruščëv and a Stalinist faction in June 1957. He retained all his posts and integrated into the Hruščëv administration. After Leonid Brežnev became a secretary of the Central Committee (22 Jun 1963), Mikojan replaced him at the post of the chairman of Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet (15 Jul 1964). Mikojan and Hruščëv discussed the plans for broadening the functions of the Supreme Soviet, but these projects were aborted after the ousting of Hruščëv in October 1964. Mikojan could have served longer as the titular head of Soviet state, but informal tradition set up by party leadership required resignation of politicians, who reached the age of 70. Mikojan tendered his resignation to the Supreme Soviet on 9 Dec 1965. Retaining the Central Committee and Supreme Soviet Presidium membership until 1976 and 1974 respectively, Mikojan practically retired from politics after the 23rd party congress (1966). Biography source: [3, pp. 422-423] |
