Nikolai Patolichev
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Semyonovich Patolichev was Minister of Foreign Trade of the USSR from 1958 to 1985. Prior to that, he was the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia from 1950 to 1956.
activist. From an early age, Joseph Stalin
had taken an interest in Patolichev. Nikolai's father, Semyon Patolichev, had been a good friend of Stalin's before he was killed in the Polish-Soviet War
in 1920. Nikolai Patolichev joined the Communist Party
in 1928 in the city of Dzerzhinsk
as a Komsomol
.
(Communist Party of the Soviet Union)," and was tasked with "strengthening defense-related production of synthetic rubber at the largest industrial plant in the Soviet Union, located in the city of Yaroslavl." Patolichev was promoted to first secretary of the Yaroslavl Oblast
Party Committee in January 1939. The following March, at the 18th Party Congress, he was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In February 1941, at the 18th All-Union Conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
, Patolichev was promoted to full membership on the Central Committee. On 28 December 1941, Patolichev was relieved from duties in Yaroslavl and transferred to Chelyabinsk.
Chelyabinsk
, known as Tankograd during the Great Patriotic War, was a major industrial center that contributed greatly to the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany
. Patolichev served as First Secretary of the Chelyabinsk Oblast
and City Party Committees from 4 January 1942 to 21 March 1946, and took a hands-on approach with industrial war production, even intervening when factories missed their production targets.
to head the Organization and Instruction Department of the Central Committee, and was elected to the Orgburo
on 18 March 1946. His role was expanded on 6 May 1946, when he was made a secretary of the Central Committee, taking the place of Georgy Malenkov
, who was temporarily demoted. In August, Patolichev became chief of the reorganized Organizational-Instructional department, now called the Directorate for the Checking of Party Organs. In September-October 1946, he became first deputy chairman of the Council for Collective Farm Affairs under his mentor, chairman Andrey Andreyevich Andreyev. His responsibilities in Moscow now included the incongruously combined affairs of agriculture and cadres, which led him to his next assignment in Ukraine.
were sent by Stalin to Ukraine to "help" Nikita Khrushchev
, who had fallen into disfavor. Kaganovich took over Khrushchev's post of First Secretary, with Patolichev becoming Central Committee secretary for agriculture, de facto Second Secretary. The two did not work well together, and Patolichev requested that Stalin reassign him. He was removed from his posts on the Orgburo and Secretariat on 24 May 1947; his post in the latter body was taken by Mikhail Suslov
.
Patolichev next became first secretary of the Rostov Oblast
and City
Party Committees, serving from August 1947 to June 1950.
and was re-elected to the Central Committee as a full member. At the Central Committee plenum that followed the 19th Congress, he was also elected candidate member of the enlarged Presidium of the Central Committee
, which replaced the old Politburo. On 5 March 1953, Patolichev was removed from the Central Committee Presidium in the reorganization that followed Stalin's death. At Lavrenty Beria's instigation, in June 1953 the Presidium attempted to remove Patolichev as first secretary in Byelorussia and replace him with an ethnic Belarusian, Mikhail Zimyanin
. At the contentious plenum of the Byelorussian Central Committee that followed, the delegates rallied behind Patolichev and rejected the Presidium's decree, which was later dropped. During the discussion of his dismissal at the plenum, Patolichev made an impassioned speech before the assembled delegates:
Patolichev managed to fend off Beria's attempt to remove him, but at the January 1955 Central Committee plenum in Moscow he clashed with Khrushchev over agricultural policy. He was later replaced as first secretary in Byelorussia by ethnic Belarusian Kirill Mazurov
, and in July 1956 became first deputy minister of Foreign Affairs.
and Yuri Andropov
. Patolichev served as Minister of Foreign Trade for twenty-seven years, until Mikhail Gorbachev
replaced him.
medals; these can be seen in the picture at right. He is a recipient of the following Soviet awards:
Early Life
Patolichev was born in Zolino in Vladimir oblast in 1923,the son of a Red Army hero in the Russian Civil War, and was orphaned at the age of twelve. After working in factories, he became a KomsomolKomsomol
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...
activist. From an early age, 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...
had taken an interest in Patolichev. Nikolai's father, Semyon Patolichev, had been a good friend of Stalin's before he was killed in the Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
in 1920. Nikolai Patolichev joined the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
in 1928 in the city of Dzerzhinsk
Dzerzhinsk, Russia
Dzerzhinsk is a city in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, situated along the Oka River, about east of Moscow. Population: The city is named after Feliks Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky, a Polish Bolshevik leader who was the first head of the Cheka ....
as a 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...
.
Preparations for War Economy
Nikolai Patolichev first arrived in Yaroslavl in August 1938, as a "special representative of the Central Committee of the CPSUCentral Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka", earlier was also called as the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party ...
(Communist Party of the Soviet Union)," and was tasked with "strengthening defense-related production of synthetic rubber at the largest industrial plant in the Soviet Union, located in the city of Yaroslavl." Patolichev was promoted to first secretary of the Yaroslavl Oblast
Yaroslavl Oblast
Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver, Moscow, Ivanovo, Vladimir, Kostroma, and Vologda Oblasts. This geographic location affords the oblast the advantages of proximity to Moscow and St. Petersburg...
Party Committee in January 1939. The following March, at the 18th Party Congress, he was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In February 1941, at the 18th All-Union Conference of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
, Patolichev was promoted to full membership on the Central Committee. On 28 December 1941, Patolichev was relieved from duties in Yaroslavl and transferred to Chelyabinsk.
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
, known as Tankograd during the Great Patriotic War, was a major industrial center that contributed greatly to the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Patolichev served as First Secretary of the Chelyabinsk Oblast
Chelyabinsk Oblast
-External links:*...
and City Party Committees from 4 January 1942 to 21 March 1946, and took a hands-on approach with industrial war production, even intervening when factories missed their production targets.
A Busy Year in Moscow
In February 1946 Patolichev was recalled to MoscowMoscow
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...
to head the Organization and Instruction Department of the Central Committee, and was elected to the Orgburo
Orgburo
The Orgburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union existed from 1919–52, until the 19th Congress, when the Orgburo was abolished and its functions were transferred to the enlarged Secretariat....
on 18 March 1946. His role was expanded on 6 May 1946, when he was made a secretary of the Central Committee, taking the place of 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...
, who was temporarily demoted. In August, Patolichev became chief of the reorganized Organizational-Instructional department, now called the Directorate for the Checking of Party Organs. In September-October 1946, he became first deputy chairman of the Council for Collective Farm Affairs under his mentor, chairman Andrey Andreyevich Andreyev. His responsibilities in Moscow now included the incongruously combined affairs of agriculture and cadres, which led him to his next assignment in Ukraine.
Temporary Eclipse and Demotion
On 3 March 1947, Patolichev and Lazar KaganovichLazar 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...
were sent by Stalin to Ukraine to "help" 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 had fallen into disfavor. Kaganovich took over Khrushchev's post of First Secretary, with Patolichev becoming Central Committee secretary for agriculture, de facto Second Secretary. The two did not work well together, and Patolichev requested that Stalin reassign him. He was removed from his posts on the Orgburo and Secretariat on 24 May 1947; his post in the latter body was taken by Mikhail Suslov
Mikhail Suslov
Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as unofficial Chief Ideologue of the Party until his death in 1982. Suslov was responsible for party democracy and the separation of power...
.
Patolichev next became first secretary of the Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast
Rostov Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in the Southern Federal District. Rostov Oblast has an area of and a population of making it the sixth most populous federal subject in Russia...
and City
Rostov-on-Don
-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...
Party Committees, serving from August 1947 to June 1950.
Six Years in Byelorussia
According to historian Evan Mawdsley, Patolichev "...recovered from this 'exile' in 1950, with another surprise appointment. In one of the intervals of a Supreme Soviet meeting Stalin called him in and asked him if he wanted to be first secretary of the Belorussian SSR; Patolichev agreed ('Gotov, tovarishch Stalin - otvetil ia'). In the late Stalin years it was not unusual to appoint ethnic Russians to leading posts in the non-Russian republics; Patolichev's task was to raise local agricultural production." Patolichev succeeded Nikolai Gusarov as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia on 31 May 1950. In October 1952, Patolichev delivered one of the main speeches at the 19th Party Congress19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Nineteenth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held from October 5–14, 1952. It was the last congress of the Stalin regime and the first to take place since before World War II...
and was re-elected to the Central Committee as a full member. At the Central Committee plenum that followed the 19th Congress, he was also elected candidate member of the enlarged Presidium of the Central Committee
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...
, which replaced the old Politburo. On 5 March 1953, Patolichev was removed from the Central Committee Presidium in the reorganization that followed Stalin's death. At Lavrenty Beria's instigation, in June 1953 the Presidium attempted to remove Patolichev as first secretary in Byelorussia and replace him with an ethnic Belarusian, Mikhail Zimyanin
Mikhail Zimyanin
Mikhail Vasilyevich Zimyanin , was a first secretary of the Byelorussian SSR during the Soviet Union, between 1946 and 1950.Zimyanin served as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pravda, the official publication of the Communist Party between 1965 and 1976. Afterwards, he was appointed to the...
. At the contentious plenum of the Byelorussian Central Committee that followed, the delegates rallied behind Patolichev and rejected the Presidium's decree, which was later dropped. During the discussion of his dismissal at the plenum, Patolichev made an impassioned speech before the assembled delegates:
Patolichev managed to fend off Beria's attempt to remove him, but at the January 1955 Central Committee plenum in Moscow he clashed with Khrushchev over agricultural policy. He was later replaced as first secretary in Byelorussia by ethnic Belarusian Kirill Mazurov
Kirill Mazurov
Kirill Trofimovich Mazurov was a Belarusian Soviet politician.-Political career:...
, and in July 1956 became first deputy minister of Foreign Affairs.
Later Career
In 1956 Patolichev was reassigned from Byelorussia once more to Moscow, this time as First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He served in that position from 1956 to 1958, when he was elevated to the honorable post of Minister of Foreign Trade of the USSR. Though he had a seat on the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Patolichev never returned to the Politburo and thus his influence was less than that of his contemporaries Mikhail SuslovMikhail Suslov
Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1965, and as unofficial Chief Ideologue of the Party until his death in 1982. Suslov was responsible for party democracy and the separation of power...
and Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
. Patolichev served as Minister of Foreign Trade for twenty-seven years, until Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
replaced him.
Honors and Awards
Patolichev is the only person to have received twelve Order of LeninOrder of Lenin
The Order of Lenin , named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union...
medals; these can be seen in the picture at right. He is a recipient of the following Soviet awards:
- Hero of Socialist Labour, twice (1975, 1978)
- Twelve Orders of Lenin (incl. 1939, 1944, 1945, 1975, 1978)
- Order of the October RevolutionOrder of the October RevolutionThe Order of the October Revolution was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was awarded to individuals or groups for services furthering communism or the state, or in enhancing the defenses of the Soviet Union, military and civil...
(1983) - Order of the Red Banner of LabourOrder of the Red Banner of LabourThe Order of the Red Banner of Labour was an order of the Soviet Union for accomplishments in labour and civil service. It is the labour counterpart of the military Order of the Red Banner. A few institutions and factories, being the pride of Soviet Union, also received the order.-History:The Red...
(1943) - Honorary citizen of ChelyabinskChelyabinskChelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
(1978)
Works
- "USSR Foreign Trade: Past, Present and Future", Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, 1967 ASIN B0006CMICA
- "USSR Foreign Trade: Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow", Novosti Press Agency Publishing House, 1971 ASIN B0006C67RC
- "Measures of Maturity, My Early Life", Pergamon Press, 1983 ISBN 978-0080245454