Pyotr Nilovich Demichev (; 10 August 2010) was a Soviet politician. He was deputy Chairman of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

from 1986 to 1988 and

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

from 1974 to 1986. He was a deputy

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

member from 1964 until his retirement in 1988. He was considered to be a " Communist Party ideologist" with little sympathy for liberal movements within the Soviet Union.

Biography

He was born on January 3, 1918 O.S. December 21, 1917">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. December 21, 1917in the village of Pesochnya, Kaluga province (now Kaluga Oblast">Kaluga region) in a working-class family. In 1937-1944 he served in the Red Army, he took part in military operations in Mongolia (1939-1940). After graduating from school, he studied at a mechanical engineering college. In 1937, he entered the Military Academy of Chemical Defense named after

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...

. He was graduated from the D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia in 1944. In 1944-1945 he was engaged in scientific and pedagogical activities at the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology.

Party career

He joined the CPSU in 1939, he was the head of department, secretary of the Soviet District Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of Moscow. In 1950, he was Deputy head of the department of Propaganda and Agitation of the Moscow City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In 1953 he graduated from the Higher Party School under the CPSU Central Committee (in absentia). At the HPS, he worked on a dissertation on European philosophy of the 19th century, but he did not complete it. In 1965, he replaced Leonid Ilyichev as Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, in charge of issues of ideology, history and culture. Information about his activities during this period is contradictory. According to Vasily Ogryzko, Demichev “was considered a member of Alexander Shelepin’s team ,” while “in his heart he supported the Russian party in literature and art and terribly disliked liberals”. Sharing some of the views of the “ soil people ” he patronized Ilya Glazunov and Vladimir Soloukhin. Demichev, on the contrary, set as his goal “the fight against hidden Stalinists,” and being directly responsible for the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee, he gradually eliminated almost all “hidden Stalinists” and Russian nationalists. In 1974, he was became the

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

from 1974–1986, later he became the First Deputy Chairman of the

after Kuznetsov retired in 1986. He was relieved all of his duties in 1988. He was still a member of the CPSU until the dissolution of the USSR.

Post-soviet life and death

After the

dissolution of the USSR Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Dissolution'', a 2002 novel by Richard Lee Byers in the War of the Spider Queen series * Dissolution (Sansom novel), ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), by C. J. Sansom, 2003 * Dissolution (Binge no ...

, Demichev lived in Moscow with his family. He died on August 10, 2010 from natural causes in the village of Zhavoronki, Odintsovsky district in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

at the age of 92. He was buried at the Znamensky cemetery.

Awards

References