Wassili Wassiljewitsch Kuznetsov

Vasily Kuznetsov (1963)

Vasili Kuznetsov ( Russian Василий Васильевич Кузнецов ; born January 31 ^{. Jul} / 13. February  1901 ^greg. In Sofilowka , Kostroma , † 5. June 1990 in Moscow ) was a Soviet politician , Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and Interim head of state of the USSR from 1982 to 1983 and again in 1984 and a third time in 1985.

Kuznetsov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in May 1927 . He studied engineering, but interrupted his studies for a two-year stay in the United States from 1931 to 1933.

From 1940 Kuznetsov held a number of positions within the Soviet government and the CPSU. From March 12, 1946 to March 12, 1950 he was Chairman of the Council of Nationalities . In 1955 he became First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. On October 7, 1977, he was elected deputy chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, a position he held until June 18, 1986. After the deaths of Leonid Brezhnev (1982), Yuri Andropov (1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (1985), he became interim chairman of the Supreme Soviet - and thus head of state of the USSR. Between the ages of 82 and 85, he held this position three times and is therefore the oldest Soviet or Russian head of state to date.

In 1986 he ended his political career. He died on June 5, 1990 in Moscow and was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Web links

• Short biography (Russian)