Aleksey Illarionovich Kirichenko
uk, Олексій Іларіонович Кириченко, translit=Oleksii Ilarionovych Kyrychenko ( – 28 December 1975) was a Soviet Ukrainian politician, who was the first ethnic Ukrainian to head the republic's communist party during the Soviet era. Between 1957 and 1960, he was a Secretary of the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, – TsK KPSS was the executive leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, acting between sessions of Congress. According to party statutes, the committee direct ...

and the second-highest-ranking official within the party after Nikita Khrushchev.

Early life and career

Aleksey Illarionovich Kirichenko was born in the village of

Chornobaivka Chornobaivka ( uk, Чорнобаївка, Chornobayivka, ) is a suburban village in Kherson Raion, Kherson Oblast, southern Ukraine. It is the center of the village council. It hosts the administration of the Chornobaivka rural hromada, one of ...

in the

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

region of south-eastern Ukraine, which was then part of the Russian Empire, into a family of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

factory workers. From the age of 11, he started earning for living by working in the fields and then at railways. After graduating from a mechanical school he worked in Kazakhstan as an engineer in a '' sovkhoz'' (state farm). He then returned to Ukraine to receive a university degree and teach agricultural engineering, and graduated in 1936.

Political career

Under Stalin

In 1938, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU), soon after Nikita Khrushchev had been appointed as First Secretary. In 1941, he was appointed Secretary of the CPU during World War II, and served as a member of the military council. Kirichenko was First Secretary of the Odessa Oblast party committee from 1945 to 1949, coinciding with the Soviet famine of 1946–1947. Ukraine in particular suffered from the effects of the famine, in part due to the devastating effects of World War II on Ukrainian territory. During this period, Kirichenko told Khrushchev that, while visiting the home of '' kolkhoz'' (collective farm) workers: Kirichenko was a member of the

from 1952 to 1961, and Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPU from 1949 to 1953.

Under Khrushchev

According to Khrushchev, Kirichenko's promotion to First Secretary the CPU in June 1953 was originally proposed by chief of the NKVD Lavrentiy Beria shortly before his downfall. However, Kirichenko was one of Khrushchev's most influential allies. In July 1955, he was promoted to the 11-member

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

. In June 1957, he rushed to Moscow at short notice to take part in a Politburo meeting at which Khrushchev's rivals, led by Georgy Malenkov were seeking to remove him from office. He helped Khrushchev turn the tables and oust Malenkov and others. In December 1957, Kirichenko was transferred to Moscow as the Central Committee Secretary in charge of party appointments. This meant that he was officially ranked as one of the five most senior figures in the party, but because of his office and relative youth, he was the person most obviously placed to succeed Khrushchev. Khrushchev mentioned this to the U.S. Ambassador

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

, in June 1959, but added, "I am very jealous of my prerogatives, and while I live, I will run the party." He flew into a rage, banged the desk with his fist and shouted down the phone when Kirichenko tried to transfer a senior official from Moscow to Leningrad without consulting him.

Downfall, later life, and death

On 13 January 1960, it was suddenly announced that Kirichenko had been appointed First Secretary of the

Rostov Oblast Rostov Oblast ( rus, Росто́вская о́бласть, r=Rostovskaya oblast, p=rɐˈstofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in the Southern Federal District. The oblast has an area of and a populati ...

party committee. In May, he was formally dismissed from the Politburo and the party secretariat, and on 15 June 1960, he was sacked from his post in Rostov, after just five months. He retired in 1962, died in 1975 and was buried at the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...

in Moscow. According to

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

, in the midst of the Soviet-Albanian split an Albanian military student studying in the Soviet Union had met Kirichenko during a train ride. The latter said to him, "Good for your Party, which exposed Khrushchev. Long live Enver Hoxha! Long live socialist Albania! ... Don't yield, give Enver my best wishes!"Hoxha, Enver.
The Khrushchevites
'. Tirana: 8 Nëntori Publishing House. 1984. pp. 202-203.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirichenko, Alexei 1908 births 1975 deaths People from Chornobaivka People from Khersonsky Uyezd Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members First Secretaries of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Third convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fourth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Fifth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Komsomol of Ukraine members Soviet major generals Soviet military personnel of World War II from Ukraine Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery