Boris Karlovich Pugo, OAN ( lv, Boriss Pugo, russian: Борис Карлович Пуго; 19 February 1937 – 22 August 1991) 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, ...

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

of Latvian origin.

Biography

Early life and education

Pugo was born in Kalinin,

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

(now

Tver Tver ( rus, Тверь, p=tvʲerʲ) is a city and the administrative centre of Tver Oblast, Russia. It is northwest of Moscow. Population: Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in the Russian ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

) into a family of Latvian communists who had left Latvia after anti-communist regime was established in Latvia in 1918 after the Communist side was defeated in the separatist war. His family returned to Latvia after the Soviet Union occupied and annexed it in 1940. Pugo graduated from

Riga Polytechnical Institute Riga Technical University (RTU) ( lv, Rīgas Tehniskā universitāte) is the oldest technical university in the Baltic countries established on October 14, 1862. It is located in Riga, Latvia and was previously known as 'Riga Polytechnical Instit ...

in 1960 and worked in various

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

and Soviet government positions, both in Latvia and

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Party career

Pugo served in various positions between 1960 and 1984 including the first secretary of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the Komsomol of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

, a secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol of the USSR, the First Secretary of the Riga City Committee of the Communist Party and chairman of the KGB in Latvia. Pugo was the first secretary of the

Communist Party of Latvia The Communist Party of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Komunistiskā partija, LKP) was a political party in Latvia. History Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvia ...

from 14 April 1984 to 4 October 1989. Pugo also served as chairman of the

Control Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Central Control Commission (russian: Центральная Контрольная Комиссия, ''Tsentral'naya Kontrol'naya Komissiya'') was a supreme disciplinary body (since 1934 within the Central Committee) of the Communist Party of ...

from 1989 to 1991. In 1982, Pugo provided the case against for a theft totaling 2,564 rubles of furniture, a telephone and other property from the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Communist Party which led to Luchansky being sentenced in 1983 to seven years in prison at the

Jēkabpils Jēkabpils (; german: Jakobstadt; pl, Jakubów) is a state city in Jēkabpils Municipality in southeastern Latvia roughly halfway between Riga and Daugavpils and spanning the Daugava River. Historic Jēkabpils lies on the left bank, in Selonia ...

zone prison.) born 8 February 1945,

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of ...

), also known as ''Garry or Harry Luchansky'' or ''Garik Luchansky'' (russian: Гарик Лучанский), was the Commander of the student detachment in Latvia in 1969, then the Head of the department of the Central Committee of the

of Latvia and the Chairman of the Audit Commission of the Komsomol of Latvia. At

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

in 1975, Grigory Luchansky was a vice-rector for economic affairs and the youngest vice-rector in the Soviet Union. He has an equivalent to a PhD in Economics. After Luchansky's release from prison in 1987, he became a deputy director of the Latvian firm "Adazhi" ( lv, Ādaži) under Albert Kauls and then "Adazhimpex" ( lv, Ādažimpeks) which was formed during peristroika to facilitate trade between the Soviet Union and the west. He is president of Nordex which he co-founded at Vienna, Austria, on 26 February 1990 as "Nordex GmbH" and re-founded on 1 December 1993 as "Nordex Hemishe Products, Handels und Marketing Service Gesellschaft MBH" with his brother Veniamin Solomonovich Levin (russian: Вениамин Соломонович Левин; born 9 September 1946

Kurgan A kurgan is a type of tumulus constructed over a grave, often characterized by containing a single human body along with grave vessels, weapons and horses. Originally in use on the Pontic–Caspian steppe, kurgans spread into much of Central Asi ...

) who is the vice president of Nordex. To promote chemical production, trade and marketing, Nordex was established by three firms: "IFT-Industrial Financial & Trading SA" of Zurich, Switzerland; "Dalmex AG" of Zug, Switzerland; and the agricultural company "Adazi" of Latvia. Luchansky and Levin formed Nordex to supply Ukraine with oil from Kazakhstan in return for food. Lutchansky is very close to

Aslan Abashidze Aslan Abashidze ( ka, ასლან აბაშიძე; born July 20, 1938) is the former leader of the Ajarian Autonomous Republic in western Georgia. He served in this capacity from 18 August 1991 to May 5, 2004. He resigned under the pres ...

and KGB agent in Italy Dimitry Naumov (russian: Дмитрий Наумов). Between 1990 and 1991, Pugo was the Minister of Interior Affairs of the USSR.

August Coup and death

Pugo participated in the

August Coup August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

in 1991 and as the Minister of the Interior firmly supported measures to suppress opposition to the coup. After the coup had failed, Pugo committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

, anticipating arrest. He was contacted by the RSFSR prosecution for a meeting and he shot himself minutes after the phone call. His wife Valentina Ivanovna also committed suicide, although sources from the time were uncertain as to whether she killed herself or was killed by her husband.

Notes

References

External links

Pugo Boris Karlovich biography
in Russian * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pugo, Boris Karlovich 1937 births 1991 suicides Latvian communists People from Tver Russian people of Latvian descent Heads of the Communist Party of Latvia Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union State Committee on the State of Emergency members Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1967–1971 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1971–1975 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1975–1980 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1980–1985 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1985–1990 Riga Technical University alumni Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Expelled members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Suicides by firearm in the Soviet Union Soviet politicians who committed suicide Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery