Alexander Alexeyevich Voznesensky (russian: Александр Алексеевич Вознесенский) (March 5, 1898—October 28, 1950) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

statesman, economist and brother of

Nikolai Voznesensky Nikolai Alekseevich Voznesensky (russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Вознесе́нский, – 1 October 1950) was a Soviet politician and economic planner who oversaw the running of Gosplan (State Planning Committee) dur ...

Biography

Born in the village of Golovkino in

Novosilsky Uyezd Novosilsky Uyezd (''Новосильский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Tula Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Novosil. Demographics A ...

Tula Governorate Tula Governorate (russian: Тульская губерния) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, located in the south of Moscow Governorate. The Governate existed from 1796 to 1929; its s ...

(now in

Oryol Oblast Oryol Oblast (russian: Орло́вская о́бласть, ''Orlovskaya oblast''), also known as Orlovshchina (russian: Орловщина) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is th ...

), he spent his childhood in

Chern Shiing-Shen Chern (; , ; October 28, 1911 – December 3, 2004) was a Chinese-American mathematician and poet. He made fundamental contributions to differential geometry and topology. He has been called the "father of modern differential geom ...

. His father, Alexey Dmitrievich Voznesensky, worked in a timber yard. His mother, Lyubov Georgievna, was a housewife. He had three younger siblings Maria, Nikolai and Valentine). In 1917, he enrolled at the

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Institute of History and Philology; in 1921, he joined the Social Sciences Faculty of

Petrograd University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

, graduating in 1923, and soon began to teach. He joined the

All-Union Communist Party (b) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),; abbreviated in Russian as or also known by #Name, various other names during its history, was the founding and ruling party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU was the One-party state, sole governing ...

in 1927. His younger brother

, also an economist, was appointed to the

Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo ( rus, Политбюро, p=pəlʲɪtbʲʊˈro) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the ...

in February 1941, becoming responsible for much of the planning of the Soviet economy and twice holding the directorship of

Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...

. Alexander served as the rector of

Leningrad State University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the G ...

from 1941 to 1948 and in the spring of 1942 he organized the evacuation of the university to

Saratov Saratov (, ; rus, Сара́тов, a=Ru-Saratov.ogg, p=sɐˈratəf) is the largest city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River upstream (north) of Volgograd. Saratov had a population of 901,36 ...

. In 1947, Voznesensky was elected to the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

and in 1948 was appointed Minister of Education of the

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. As his brother fell from favour with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

, in the wake of the Leningrad affair, Alexander was also arrested and tortured in August 1949. Although

Nikolai Bulganin Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин; – 24 February 1975) was a Soviet politician who served as Minister of Defense (1953–1955) and Premier of the Soviet Union (1955–1 ...

(Minister for Defense) was friends with Alexander, he could not risk helping him, in case he would also be implicated. On August 19, 1949, he was arrested on charges of treason, participation in a counterrevolutionary organization, and anti-Soviet agitation (the Leningrad Affair). He was convicted and executed in 1950. He was rehabilitated on May 14, 1954.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

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External links

Handbook on the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union 1898 - 1991List of all Education Ministers of the USSR
1898 births 1950 deaths People from Oryol Oblast Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Russian people executed by the Soviet Union Soviet economists Rectors of Saint Petersburg State University People's commissars and ministers of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union {{Russia-economist-stub