Ekaterina Furtseva
Encyclopedia
Yekaterina Alexeyevna Furtseva ' onMouseout='HidePop("80612")' href="/topics/Vyshny_Volochyok">Vyshny Volochyok
- 24 October 1974, Moscow
) was probably the most influential woman in Soviet
politics and the first woman to be admitted into Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
. (There were only two women to be elected full members of the Central Committee's Politburo: Yekaterina Furtseva (1957–1961) and, at the end of the Perestroika
, Galina Semyonova (1990–1991).
Until the 1940s, Furtseva worked as an ordinary weaver at one of Moscow
's textile factories. She had been a minor party worker in Kursk
and the Crimea
, and was called to Moscow and sent to the Institute of Chemical Technology from where she graduated in 1941 as a chemical engineer.
Furtseva's party career started under Joseph Stalin
. Gradually, she became active in Komsomol
affairs and rose to the position of Secretary of the Moscow
City Council in 1950. She gave a speech at the 19th Congress of the CPSU in 1952, the last party congress of the Stalin era, where she was also elected a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
Under Nikita Khrushchev
, who sympathized with her, Furtseva was the first secretary of Moscow Committee of the CPSU from 1954 to 1957.
In 1952, Furtseva attacked the leading filmstar, Boris Babochkin
, who was famous since starring as Vasily Chapayev
. This time Furtseva saw the actor starring in a stageplay, and was enraged by Babochkin's satirical portrayal of the Soviet communist leadership. Her angry article in the Soviet newspaper Pravda
called for censorship of Babochkin, while Furtseva furthered her career in the Soviet elite. Then Furtseva personally ordered that all film studios and drama companies of the USSR should refuse Babochkin any jobs, keeping him unemployed.
In 1956 she was appointed a Secretary of the Central Committee
and was elected a candidate member of Politburo. She became the first woman to join the Politburo the next year. In this capacity, she sided with Khrushchev in de-Stalinization
during the Khrushchev's Thaw, and secured the downfall of Vyacheslav Molotov
, Georgy Malenkov
, and Lazar Kaganovich
when they conspired to depose her patron.
During that time she fell in love with Nikolay Firyubin
, the Soviet ambassador in Yugoslavia
. Furtseva scandalized the Soviet elite by her weekend trips abroad in order to meet her lover. As he married her and rose to become the Deputy Foreign Minister, they settled in Moscow, and their relations cooled down somewhat.
In 1960, the KGB
recorded her telephone call to a friend denouncing Khrushchev's policies. This affair led to her being ousted from the Politburo. In exasperation, she made her first attempt at suicide by cutting her veins. Furtseva's ostensible repentance gained her pardon and appointment, also in 1960, to the honourable but powerless position of the Soviet Minister of Culture.
During the following 14 years, remembered as the Age of Furtseva, she exerted immense influence on Soviet culture, both repressive and beneficent. As she became increasingly interested in manipulating theatre and cinema, many remarkable actors and directors tried to secure her friendship in order to further their own careers. According to the most intimate of her friends (such as the singer Lyudmila Zykina
), she also became addicted to alcohol. She died in 1974 due to heart failure according to the official version. Yet there were rumors, that she was implicated in illegal commercial dealings and, wishing to preclude the impending scandal and disgrace, committed suicide. Furtseva is buried at the Novodevichye Cemetery (her grave).
Vyshny Volochyok
Vyshny Volochyok , also known as Vyshny Volochok , is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia. Population: The town is located northwest of Tver, in the Valdai Hills, between the Tveritsa and Tsna Rivers, on the watershed between the basins of the Volga and the Baltic Sea. Hence the town's name is...
- 24 October 1974, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
) was probably the most influential woman in Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
politics and the first woman to be admitted into Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Politburo , known as the Presidium from 1952 to 1966, functioned as the central policymaking and governing body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.-Duties and responsibilities:The...
. (There were only two women to be elected full members of the Central Committee's Politburo: Yekaterina Furtseva (1957–1961) and, at the end of the Perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
, Galina Semyonova (1990–1991).
Until the 1940s, Furtseva worked as an ordinary weaver at one of Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
's textile factories. She had been a minor party worker in Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
and the Crimea
Crimea
Crimea , or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea , is a sub-national unit, an autonomous republic, of Ukraine. It is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying a peninsula of the same name...
, and was called to Moscow and sent to the Institute of Chemical Technology from where she graduated in 1941 as a chemical engineer.
Furtseva's party career started under Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
. Gradually, she became active in Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
affairs and rose to the position of Secretary of the Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
City Council in 1950. She gave a speech at the 19th Congress of the CPSU in 1952, the last party congress of the Stalin era, where she was also elected a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
Under Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, who sympathized with her, Furtseva was the first secretary of Moscow Committee of the CPSU from 1954 to 1957.
In 1952, Furtseva attacked the leading filmstar, Boris Babochkin
Boris Babochkin
Boris Andreyevich Babochkin was a well-known Soviet film and theatre actor and director. Boris Babochkin was one of the first internationally recognized stars of the Soviet-Russian cinema...
, who was famous since starring as Vasily Chapayev
Vasily Chapayev
Vasily Ivanovich Chapayev or Chapaev was a celebrated Russian soldier and Red Army commander during the Russian Civil War.-Biography:...
. This time Furtseva saw the actor starring in a stageplay, and was enraged by Babochkin's satirical portrayal of the Soviet communist leadership. Her angry article in the Soviet newspaper Pravda
Pravda
Pravda was a leading newspaper of the Soviet Union and an official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party between 1912 and 1991....
called for censorship of Babochkin, while Furtseva furthered her career in the Soviet elite. Then Furtseva personally ordered that all film studios and drama companies of the USSR should refuse Babochkin any jobs, keeping him unemployed.
In 1956 she was appointed a Secretary of the Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
and was elected a candidate member of Politburo. She became the first woman to join the Politburo the next year. In this capacity, she sided with Khrushchev in de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...
during the Khrushchev's Thaw, and secured the downfall of Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev...
, Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was a Soviet politician, Communist Party leader and close collaborator of Joseph Stalin. After Stalin's death, he became Premier of the Soviet Union and was in 1953 briefly considered the most powerful Soviet politician before being overshadowed by Nikita...
, and Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin.-Early life:Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire...
when they conspired to depose her patron.
During that time she fell in love with Nikolay Firyubin
Nikolay Firyubin
Nikolay Pavlovich Firyubin was a Soviet diplomat.Born in Simbirsk, he became a construction worker at age sixteen. After graduating from the Moscow Aviation Institute in 1935, he went to work in an aircraft factory, and soon became involved in government and party affairs...
, the Soviet ambassador in Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...
. Furtseva scandalized the Soviet elite by her weekend trips abroad in order to meet her lover. As he married her and rose to become the Deputy Foreign Minister, they settled in Moscow, and their relations cooled down somewhat.
In 1960, the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
recorded her telephone call to a friend denouncing Khrushchev's policies. This affair led to her being ousted from the Politburo. In exasperation, she made her first attempt at suicide by cutting her veins. Furtseva's ostensible repentance gained her pardon and appointment, also in 1960, to the honourable but powerless position of the Soviet Minister of Culture.
During the following 14 years, remembered as the Age of Furtseva, she exerted immense influence on Soviet culture, both repressive and beneficent. As she became increasingly interested in manipulating theatre and cinema, many remarkable actors and directors tried to secure her friendship in order to further their own careers. According to the most intimate of her friends (such as the singer Lyudmila Zykina
Lyudmila Zykina
Lyudmila Georgievna Zykina was a national folk singer of Russia.She was born in Moscow and joined the Pyatnitsky Choir in 1947. Her surname is derived from the Russian word for "loud" . Beginning in 1960 she performed solo...
), she also became addicted to alcohol. She died in 1974 due to heart failure according to the official version. Yet there were rumors, that she was implicated in illegal commercial dealings and, wishing to preclude the impending scandal and disgrace, committed suicide. Furtseva is buried at the Novodevichye Cemetery (her grave).