Vasil Mshavanadze

Vasily Pavlovich Mschawanadse ( Georgian ვასილ მჟავანაძე , Vasil Mžavanadze; Russian Василий Павлович Мжаванадзе ; born September 7, ^jul. / 20th September  1902 ^greg. In Kutaisi ; † 5. September 1988 ) was a Soviet- Georgian politicians. From September 1953 to September 1972 he was First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Georgian SSR and from June 1957 to December 18, 1972 a member of the Politburo of the CPSU . He became a symbol of corruption in Georgia during the 1960s .

Life

During the Second World War he served as a political officer in the Red Army . After the war, he became the deputy political officer in the Kiev military district in Ukraine . His immediate superior was the then Ukrainian Communist Party leader and later Soviet party leader Nikita Khrushchev .

In September 1953 he became First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. The background to the promotion was a power struggle between Nikita Khrushchev and Georgi Malenkov to succeed Stalin in the office of general secretary of the CPSU. Khrushchev sought to broaden his power base in the party by appointing his Georgian supporter as political leader in Transcaucasia . On June 29, 1957, Mshavanadze became a candidate, and in 1966 a full member of the Politburo of the CPSU.

During the Tbilisi massacre in 1956 , Mschavanadze had protests from students and schoolchildren in downtown Tbilisi suppressed by the Soviet army. The Georgian economy grew and prospered during his tenure, but this went hand in hand with increasing corruption at all levels. Mshavanadze itself became a symbol of corrupt and inefficient government. He was accused of auctioning off public offices, investing state funds in his own pocket and running illegal factories for his own gain. His wife Tamara was popularly called "Queen Tamara " after a medieval ruler and was known for her expensive jewelry and antiques.

The corruption in Georgia became so embarrassing for the Communist Party leadership in Moscow that they decided to make an example. In mid-1972, Mschawanadze was publicly accused of corruption and also sharply criticized in the state-controlled media. On September 28, he resigned from the position of First Secretary and was replaced by the then Interior Minister Eduard Shevardnadze . On December 18, he also had to give up his membership in the Politburo.

It was assumed at the time that Shevardnadze was one of the driving forces behind the replacement of his superior. However, there is still no evidence of this.

literature

• Nino Mzavanaze, Marika Kakhaze: Vasil Mzavanaz: aset'i iqo c'emi Sak'art'velo . "Sak'art'velos XXI saukunis" sagamomc'emlo c'entri, Tbilisi 2003

Fonts

• Otchet Central'nogo komiteta KP Gruzii XVIII s' ezdu. Izd-vo TSK KP Gruzii, Tbilisi 1958
• Rech 'na vneocherednom xxi s' ezde KPSS: 29 ianvaria 1959 goda. Gos. izd-vo polit. lit-ry, Moskva 1959
• Oktiabr 'i Gruziia. Sabchota Sakartvelo, Tbilisi 1967
• Rech 'na dvadtsat' vtorom sezde KPSS. Moskva 1961