Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov

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Portrait of Romanov on his tombstone in Kunzewoer Cemetery (Moscow)

Grigori Wassiljewitsch Romanow ( Russian Григорий Васильевич Романов ; born February 7, 1923 in Sichnowo, today Novgorod Oblast ; † June 3, 2008 in Moscow , Russia ) was a Soviet politician .

Life

Young years

Romanov served as a soldier in the Red Army during World War II . In 1944 he became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). At times he worked as a technician in a shipyard. But then his activity shifted to the CPSU as a secretary in various regional areas.

Advancement in the CPSU

From 1970 to 1983 Romanov was first secretary of the important Leningrad Regional Committee . As a good organizer and economist, his personal reputation in the party grew. In 1970 he became a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU . From this post he rose as a Brezhnev supporter to a full member of the highest political body of the USSR, the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( CPSU ), from March 4, 1976 to July 1, 1985.

In 1983, at Andropov's request, he moved from Leningrad (successor: Lev Saikow ) to Moscow and was secretary in the Central Committee of the CPSU until 1985 , responsible for all matters relating to the arms industry; although - according to Mikhail Gorbachev - "he was more of a limited man in his possibilities with 'leadership behavior', and at meetings of the Politburo he rarely had a thought or suggestion."

Around 1983 the arch-conservative and powerful Romanov was considered one of the possible candidates for the position of future General Secretary of the CPSU. He was unable to assert himself because the rumor that he had had Tsarina Catherine II's ceremonial service from the Hermitage for the wedding of his daughter and that some things had been broken was exploited by his opponents. Then followers of Mikhail Gorbachev ensured in 1985 - shortly after this general secretary of the CPSU - that the unpleasant competitor and "very last Romanov " was overthrown because of the slander. He was replaced by the Central Committee plenum in July 1985. Boris Yeltsin , Lev Saikov (both reformers) and Anatoly Lukyanov followed as Central Committee secretaries . Romanov only remained in the Central Committee.

Plaque

In August 2010, a dispute broke out in Saint Petersburg over whether a plaque in his honor should be placed on his house on the corner of Kuibyshev Street and Troitskajaplatz. The plaque was praised by Governor Valentina Matviyenko , and various initiatives opposed this honor to the politician whom they described as an anti-Semite and persecutor of dissidents .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Денис Нижегородцев (Dennis Nischegorodzew): Умер главный соперник Горбачева . Взгляд (Bsgljad), June 3, 2008 (Russian; "Gorbachev's main opponent died." The article describes the rumor.)
    Arkadij Nikolajewitsch Shevchenko : Moscow confidential . Der Spiegel 8/1985 of February 18, 1985, p. 147.
  2. ^ Quarrel in Petersburg. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , August 30, 2010, p. 28.