Vladimir Mikhailovich Vinogradov (2 August 1921 – 21 June 1997) was a prominent

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, ...

diplomat in the second half of the 20th century.Knowbysight
retrieved 22nd Sept 2010

Early life

Vinogradov was born in 1921 in

Vinnytsia Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. A ...

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 approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. In 1945, he earned a degree in engineering and technology in

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 ...

; three years later, he graduated from the All-Union Academy of Foreign Trade. After finishing his studies, he was appointed assistant to the commercial representative of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Vinogradov returned to Moscow four years later to work in the central apparatus of the Ministry of Trade. He served as the Deputy Chief of the Department of Commerce for the next ten years, dealing mostly with western countries.

Diplomatic career

From 1962 to 1966, Vinogradov was the ambassador of the USSR in Japan; he served as Ambassador to Egypt from 1970 to 1974. At the beginning of 1975, Vinogradov acted as the initiator of a rapprochement between the USSR and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. From February 1977 to April 1982, Vinogradov was the ambassador of the USSR in Iran. After this assignment, Vinogradov was appointed to the post of Minister for Foreign Affairs of the

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

(one of the republics of the USSR). He held this post for eight years (until 11 October 1990, being replaced by

Andrei Kozyrev Andrei Vladimirovich Kozyrev (russian: Андре́й Влади́мирович Ко́зырев; born 27 March 1951) is a Russian politician who served as the former and the first Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation under Pres ...

), continuing to actively participate in the implementation of Soviet policy in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. Vinogradov retired from his diplomatic career in 1990.

Retirement

After retiring, Vinogradov maintained a high level of interest in the Middle East. In 1992, he headed the Russian Committee of Public Organizations on Assistance to the Arab-Israeli settlement. Through this structure, many informal contacts of Moscow with political figures of the countries of the Middle East were carried out in the 1990s. Vinogradov participated in them very actively, from time to time advising diplomats of the official position of post-Soviet Russia on various regional questions.

References

External links

The Kremlin's Envoy, Who Rejected the Iranian Revolution
The article about diplomatic career of Vladimir Michaylovich Vinogradov {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinogradov, Vladimir 1921 births 1997 deaths Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members Vinogradov Vladimir Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Egypt Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Iran Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Japan Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to the United Arab Emirates Cold War diplomats Soviet diplomats Soviet expatriates in the United Kingdom