Yuri Viktorovich Kuplyakov ( rus, Юрий Викторович Купляков, 8 September 1930 – 25 February 2020) was a Soviet diplomat. He served in various embassies over a career spanning 35 years, culminating in the position of
Ambassador of the Soviet Union to Nigeria between 1985 and 1990.
Career
Kuplyakov was born on 8 September 1930, and attended the
Moscow State Institute of International Relations.
Graduating in 1955, he began a 35-year long career in the Soviet diplomatic service. His initial service was in the
Middle East, serving in the Soviet embassies in Israel and Iraq, after which he was sent to North America as counsellor in the Soviet embassy in Mexico. He also spent time working in African countries, in the embassies in Uganda and Ethiopia. His posting to the newly opened embassy in Uganda was a significant milestone. The first Soviet ambassador to the country, , recalled "
fter establishing the embassyit was possible to take up visits to Ugandan officials and ambassadors of other countries — and by that time there had already been about two dozen of them, counting charge d'affaires — which I did, accompanied by the second secretary of the embassy, Yuri Viktorovich Kuplyakov, who had already managed to settle down in a couple of weeks in Uganda, so much that in my eyes he looked like an old-timer - he seemed to know everything here and willingly shared this knowledge with me."
Kuplyakov's African career culminated in the position of
Soviet ambassador to Nigeria between 1985 and 23 March 1990.
Kuplyakov's service abroad was interspersed with positions in the Central Office of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
, initially in the Middle Eastern department, then the second European department, and finally the third African department.
After completing his ambassadorship in 1990, Kuplyakov returned once more to the Central Office, and worked in the Ministry's Office for Union Republics, which became the Department of
Commonwealth of Independent States of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
of the
Russian Federation after the
dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...
.
Kuplyakov received a number of awards over his career, including the
Order of Friendship of Peoples,
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" the
Medal "Veteran of Labour", and the of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
Kuplyakov died on 25 February 2020 at the age of 89.
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered its condolences, describing Kuplyakov as "a talented diplomat who devoted his whole life to the service of the Motherland and its national interests
hohas always been distinguished by high professionalism, a versatile and wide range of knowledge, hard work, and an attentive attitude to colleagues and subordinates."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuplyakov, Yuri
1930 births
2020 deaths
Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Nigeria
Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples
Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni