Vasili Vasilyevich Kuznetsov (russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Кузнецо́в; 5 June 1990) was a Russian Soviet politician who acted as

Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Constitution of the Soviet Union recognised the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and the earlier Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Congress of Soviets as the highest organs of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic ...

from 1982 to 1983 (after the death of Brezhnev), for a second time in 1984 (after the death of Andropov), and for a third time in 1985 (after the death of Chernenko). Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union was formally the highest state post. During the term of office, Kuznetsov was 81–82, 82–83, and 84 years old, respectively, so he is the oldest head of the Soviet and Russian state in history (he was older than all three predecessors in this post).

Biography

Kuznetsov and Sadat - Flickr - The Central Intelligence Agency

Kuznetsov was born in Sofilovka,

Kostroma Governorate Kostroma Governorate (russian: link=no, Костромская губерния, ''Kostromskaya guberniya'') was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its adminis ...

. He joined the

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 Engel ...

in May 1927. He took a break from his

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

education when he went to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to study metal processing at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

from 1931 to 1933. Kuznetsov held a variety of government and Communist Party positions beginning in 1940. He was Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities from 12 March 1946 to 12 March 1950, and simultaneously Chairman of the Presidium of the

All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions The All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (ACCTU; russian: Всесоюзный центральный совет профессиональных союзов, VTsSPS) was the national trade union federation of the Soviet Union. The federati ...

from 15 March 1944 to 12 March 1953. In 1955 he became First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 7 October 1977 he was elected as First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a position he held until 18 June 1986. Upon the deaths of

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev; uk, links= no, Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв, . (19 December 1906– 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1 ...

(1982),

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the ...

(1984) and

Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko uk, Костянтин Устинович Черненко, translit=Kostiantyn Ustynovych Chernenko (24 September 1911 – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician and the seventh General Secretary of the Commu ...

(1985), Kuznetsov became acting chairman of the Presidium until the election of a successor. Also, on 31 December 1982, Kuznetsov congratulated the Soviet people on the New Year in a televised address. He retired in 1986 and died in Moscow on 5 June 1990."Vasily Kuznetsov, 90, Dies; Former Soviet Vice President"
''The Washington Post'', 7 June 1990. Kuznetsov was the longest-lived head of the Soviet and Russian states in history (89 years), until

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to the country's dissolution in 1991. He served as General Secretary of the Com ...

broke this record.

References