The Premier of the Soviet Union () was the

head of government In the Executive (government), executive branch, the head of government is the highest or the second-highest official of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presid ...

of the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

(USSR). From 1923 to 1946, the name of the office was Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, and from 1946 to 1991 its name was Chairman of the Council of Ministers. During the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...

in 1991, its name was briefly Prime Minister and later Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy. The first Soviet premier was the country's founder and first leader,

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

. After 1924, when

General Secretary of the Communist Party The title of General Secretary or First Secretary is commonly used for the leaders of most communist parties. When a communist party is the ruling party of a socialist state—often labeled as communist states by external observers—the general s ...

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

rose to power, the ''de facto'' leader was the party's General Secretary, with Stalin and his successor

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

also serving as premier. Twelve individuals held the post.

History

Lenin's First Government was created on 6 July 1923 by the Central Executive Committee with

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

as its first chairman. The government was empowered to initiate decrees and legislation that were binding throughout the USSR. The longest serving premier in the history of the USSR was

Alexei Kosygin Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin (–18 December 1980) was a Soviet people, Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1980 and, alongside General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, was one of its most ...

, who was appointed head of government after the ousting of

in 1964. However, Kosygin's prestige was weakened when he proposed the economic reform of 1965. In 1991, upon Valentin Pavlov's ascension to the premiership, the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

was abolished and replaced with the Cabinet of Ministers. After the August coup of 1991, the majority of the cabinet members endorsed the coup, leading to the Cabinet of Ministers dissolving and being replaced by the

Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet Economy A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. The government of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

began seizing Soviet ministries in the aftermath of the coup, and by December 1991 the Soviet government had completely lost control of itself and shut down entirely. Under the

1977 Soviet Constitution The 1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union, officially the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was adopted on 7 October 1977. The 1977 Constitution, also known as the ''Brezhnev Constitution'' or the ''Constitution of Deve ...

, the head of government was the leader of the highest executive and administrative organ of state. The head of government was appointed by and accountable to the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

(and its

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

). The head of government was tasked with resolving all state administrative duties within the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

of the USSR to the degree which were not the responsibility of the Supreme Soviet or its Presidium. The head of government managed the national economy, formulated the

five-year plans Five-year plan may refer to: Nation plans * Five-year plans of the Soviet Union, a series of nationwide centralized economic plans in the Soviet Union * Five-Year Plans of Argentina, under Peron (1946–1955) * Five-Year Plans of Bhutan, a series ...

and ensured socio-cultural development. It functioned as the most influential office of government and nominally the most influential office until the establishment of the Office of the

President of the Soviet Union The president of the Soviet Union (), officially the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), abbreviated as president of the USSR (), was the executive head of state of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 15 March ...

in 1990. Vladimir Lenin died in office of natural causes, as well as Joseph Stalin, and three premiers resigned

Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov ( – 1 June 1997) was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, ...

and Ivan Silayev. Another three were concurrently

party leader In a governmental system, a party leader acts as the official representative of their political party, either to a legislature or to the electorate. Depending on the country, the individual colloquially referred to as the "leader" of a politica ...

and head of government (Lenin, Stalin and

). The one who spent the shortest time in office was Ivan Silayev, at 119 days. Kosygin spent the longest time in office16 years.

List of officeholders

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

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