Nikolai Tikhonov

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This article is about the Soviet politician. For the writer, see Nikolai Tikhonov (writer). For the cosmonaut, see Nikolai Tikhonov (cosmonaut).

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Aleksandrovich and the family name is Tikhonov.
Nikolai Tikhonov
Николай Тихонов
27th
Central Committee
In office
1966–1989
Candidate member of the 22nd Central Committee
In office
1961–1966
Personal details
Born(1905-05-14)14 May 1905
Metallurgist

Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov (

Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice Premier, from 1976 to 1980. Tikhonov was responsible for the cultural and economic administration of the Soviet Union during the late era of stagnation. He was replaced as Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1985 by Nikolai Ryzhkov. In the same year, he lost his seat in the Politburo; however, he retained his seat in the Central Committee
until 1989.

He was born in the city of

Soviet economy, a need which was strongly evidenced during the early–mid-1980s. He retired from active politics in 1989 as a pensioner
. Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997.

Early life and career

Tikhonov was born in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on 14 May [O.S. 1 May] 1905 to a Russian-Ukrainian working-class family; he graduated from the St. Catherine Institute of Communications in 1924. Tikhonov worked as an assistant engineer from 1924 to 1926. Four years later, in 1930, Tikhonov graduated as an engineer, earning a degree from the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute. From 1930 to 1941, Tikhonov worked as an engineer at the Lenin Metallurgical Plant in Dnipropetrovsk; he was appointed as the plant's Chief Engineer in January 1941.[1]

It was during his stay in Dnipropetrovsk that he met Leonid Brezhnev, a future leader of the Soviet Union.[2] Tikhonov joined the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) in 1940 and by the end of the decade, had secured a job as a plant director.[3] As a director, Tikhonov was able to show off his organisational skills; under his leadership the plant became the first in the region to reopen a hospital, organising dining rooms and restoring social clubs for workers caught up in the aftermath of the Eastern Front.[1] Tikhonov was quickly promoted, and started working for the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy in the 1950s. Between 1955 and 1960 Tikhonov became a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy, a member (and later chairman) of the Scientific Council of the Council of Ministers, and finally, a deputy chairman of the State Planning Committee.[4] At the 22nd Party Congress Tikhonov was elected to the Central Committee as a non-voting member.[1] At the 23rd party congress in 1966, Tikhonov was elected a member of the Central Committee.[1] Tikhonov was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labour award for his first time.[3]

During his tenure as

Dmitriy Ustinov, the Minister of Defense at the time.[6]

Premiership (1980–1985)

See also: Tikhonov's First and Second Government

Appointment and the 26th Congress

When

death rate of the Russian population.[12]

Under Andropov and Chernenko

Brezhnev's death in 1982, Tikhonov supported Chernenko's candidacy for the General Secretaryship. Chernenko lost the vote, and Yuri Andropov became General Secretary.[13] It has been suggested that Andropov had plans of replacing Tikhonov with Heydar Aliyev. Historian William A. Clark noted how Aliyev, a former head of the Azerbaijani KGB, was appointed to the First Deputy Premiership of the Council of Ministers without Tikhonov's consent; however, Andropov's death in 1984 left Tikhonov secure in his office.[14] Some Western analysts speculated that the appointment of Andrei Gromyko to the First Deputy Premiership, again without Tikhonov's consent, was a sign that his position within the Soviet hierarchy was weakened. Tikhonov was on a state visit to Yugoslavia when Gromyko was appointed to the First Deputy Premiership.[15]

With his health failing, Andropov used his spare times to write speeches to the

bilateral relations with the Eastern Bloc states, and hosted the Prime Minister of Finland when he visited the Soviet Union. In short, in-between Andropov's last days and Chernenko's rise to power, Tikhonov was the dominant driving figure of the Soviet Union. However, Tikhonov peacefully stepped away, and supported Chernenko's candidacy for General Secretary.[16][additional citation(s) needed] When Chernenko died in 1985, Tikhonov tried, but failed, to find a contender to Gorbachev's candidacy to the General Secretaryship.[17]

Gorbachev and resignation

Upon Gorbachev's ascension to power, Tikhonov was elected chairman of the newly established Commission on Improvements of the Management System. The title of chairman was largely honorary, and its

Soviet leadership.[22] Tikhonov was active in Soviet politics, albeit in a much less prominent role, until 1989 when he lost his seat in the Central Committee.[1]

Later life and death

After his forced resignation from active politics in 1989, Tikhonov wrote a letter to Mikhail Gorbachev which stated that he regretted supporting his election to the General Secretaryship.[3] This view was strengthened when the Communist Party was banned in the Soviet Union. After his retirement, he lived the rest of his life in seclusion at his dacha. As one of his friends noted, he lived as "a hermit" and never showed himself in public[3] and that his later life was very difficult as he had no children and because his wife had died.[3] Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union Tikhonov worked as a State Advisor to the Supreme Soviet.[23] Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery.[24] Shortly before his death, he wrote a letter addressed to Yeltsin: "I ask you to bury me at public expense, since I have no financial savings."[25]

As he received a three-room apartment when he was deputy chairman, he lived in it with his wife until his death. They had no children, and they lived very modestly. As a former prime minister, he was left with a dacha, private security, and a personal pension. Tikhonov did not have any savings. When he worked in the government, he and his wife spent all their money on the purchase of buses, which they donated to pioneer camps and schools. After the liquidation of the USSR, the personal pension was canceled, and Tikhonov received a regular old-age pension. And the guys from the security were buying him fruits from their own salaries.[6]

According to

Stalin Prizes and several medals and foreign awards.[1]

Decorations and awards

  • Hero of Socialist Labour (1975, 1982)
  • Nine
    Orders of Lenin
  • Order of the October Revolution
  • Two
    Orders of the Red Banner
  • Order of the Red Star
  • Stalin Prize
    ;
    • 1st class (1943) – a radical improvement of the production of pipes and mortar ammunition
    • 3rd class (1951) – for the development and commercial production of seamless pipes of large diameter
  • Doctor of Technical Sciences (1961)

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Симоновым, A.A. Тихонов, Николай Александрович [Tikhonov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich] (in Russian). warheroes.ru. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b Zemtsov 1989, p. 119.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Тихонов, Николай Александрович (in Russian). proekt-wms.narod.ru. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  4. ^ Zemtsov 1989, p. 70.
  5. ISBN 978-0-674-41030-5
    .
  6. ^ a b c d Охранники скидывались на фрукты бывшему премьеру. Kommersant (in Russian). 9 May 2000. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  7. ISBN 978-0-19-288052-9
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-7864-4486-1
    .
  9. ISBN 978-3-82580640-8
    .
  10. ^ "Tikhonov Bids for U.S. Trade". Reading Eagle. 27 February 1981.
  11. ^ "Soviets put squeeze on U.S. for summit". Tri-City Herald. 27 February 1981.
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-67403493-8
    .
  13. ^ Zemtsov 1989, p. 131.
  14. ISBN 1-56324-055-6
    .
  15. ^ "Gromyko's promotion may be premier's loss". Deseret News. 25 March 1983.
  16. ^ Zemtsov 1989, p. 146.
  17. ISBN 978-1-84595-067-5
    .
  18. ISBN 0-295-97823-6
    .
  19. ISBN 978-1-84595-067-5
    .
  20. ^
    ISBN 978-0-14-103797-4
    .
  21. ISBN 0-312-16488-2
    .
  22. ISBN 978-0-87332-496-0
    .
  23. ^ Биографии. Forbes.ru (in Russian). 24 September 2009. Archived from the original on 10 October 2010. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
  24. ^ Тихонов, Николай Александрович (in Russian). warheroes.ru. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  25. ^ "Министр СССР: о реформах Брежнев говорил — "не дергайте людей, дайте людям отдохнуть"". ТАСС. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
  26. ^ "Soviet Union: And Then There Was One". Time. 3 November 1980. Archived from the original on November 25, 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
  27. ^ Тихонов, Николай Александрович (in Russian). warheroes.ru. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  28. ^ В Харькове демонтировали памятник бывшему главе правительства СССР (in Russian). 2day.kh.ua. 6 January 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.

Sources

Political offices
Preceded by
Council of Ministers

1980–1985 		Succeeded by
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