Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva (russian: Нина Петровна Хрущёва; uk, Ні́на Петрі́вна Хрущо́ва; ; russian: Кухарчук; 14 April 1900 – 13 August 1984) was the second wife of the Soviet leader
Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
.


Biography

Nina Kukharchuk was born in the village of Wasylów, which was then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, but now in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
. Her parents, Petro Vasyl'yovych Kukharchuk and Kateryna Petrivna Bondarchuk, were peasants. After completing three years of primary school in her village, in 1912 she enrolled in a school in
Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
, and then in a senior school in Chelm. After the beginning of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
Kukharchuk relocated to
Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrative ...
, where she studied until 1919 and worked as a secretary. In 1919 she joined the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
in Odesa. Kukharchuk fluently spoke French, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian as well as her native Lemko dialect and she became one of the leaders of the
Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...
in Odesa, then occupied by the French. Kukharchuk and Taras Franko, the son of
Ivan Franko Ivan Yakovych Franko (Ukrainian: Іван Якович Франко, pronounced ˈwɑn ˈjɑkowɪtʃ frɐnˈkɔ 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, ...
, then joined the Galician party bureau, created at the order of
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
to spread Communist ideas among the
Ukrainian Galician Army Ukrainian Galician Army ( uk, Українська Галицька Армія, translit=Ukrayins’ka Halyts’ka Armiya, UHA), was the Ukrainian military of the West Ukrainian National Republic during and after the Polish-Ukrainian War. It wa ...
. In June 1920 she was appointed as an
agitator Agitator may refer to: Politics *A person who carries out political agitation; see agitation *A member of the Agitators, political movement and elected representatives of soldiers during the English Civil War * Levellers, also called Agitators ...
to the
Polish front Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and became the leader of the education department and of the women's department of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Western Ukraine Communist Party of Western Ukraine (; uk, Комуністична партія Західної України) was a political party in eastern interwar Poland. Until 1923 it was known as the Communist Party of Eastern Galicia (Komunistyczna Par ...
. Later that year Kukharchuk was sent to Moscow to continue her studies. In 1921 she became a teacher at a communist party school in
Bakhmut Bakhmut ( uk, Ба́хмут, ) is a city in the Donbas and the administrative centre of Bakhmut Raion in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the Bakhmutka River, about 89 km north of Donetsk city, the administrative center of the o ...
, but soon became ill with
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...
, and after recovery was moved to a similar school in
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...
. There in 1922 Kukharchuk met Nikita Khrushchev, with whom she spent most of her remaining life. In 1926 Kukharchuk was again sent to Moscow, to study
political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
, and after that taught at a party school in Kyiv. In Kyivv in 1929 she gave birth to Rada, her first child with Khrushchev. She also took care of Khrushchev's two children from his previous marriage, and when in 1930 Khrushchev was sent to Moscow, she followed him there. In Moscow, Kukharchuk lived with Khrushchev's parents and worked as a party leader at a lamp factory. In 1935 she gave birth to their son Sergei and in 1937 to their daughter Elena, who died aged 35 due to poor health. In 1938 Khrushchev was appointed as the
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union), Communist Party of Ukraine ( uk, Перший Секретар ЦК КПУ, russian: Первый Секретарь ЦК КПУ) was a party leader of ...
, and his family returned to Kyiv, but only three years later they were evacuated to
Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...
due to the German invasion of the Soviet Union. After Khrushchev became the Soviet leader in 1953, Kukharchuk acted as the First Lady of Soviet Union, in a position that was non-existent with previous Soviet leaders. In contrast to her predecessors she accompanied Khrushchev in his foreign trips, took part in official events, and was de facto manager of Khrushchev's private life. She could communicate in five languages: Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, French and English, which she studied for many years in various Communist Party schools. Kukharchuk and Khrushchev officially married only in 1965, after Khrushchev was retired from office. She spent the rest of her life in Zhukovka in
Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally "under Moscow"), is a federal subject of Rus ...
. She died on 13 August 1984 at the age of 84.


References


External link

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khrushcheva, Nina 1900 births 1984 deaths Khrushcheva Spouses of Russian and Soviet national leaders Ukrainian people in the Russian Empire People from Lublin Governorate People from Tomaszów Lubelski County 20th-century Ukrainian women