The gray cardinal - that’s how they called the chief ideologist of the Soviet system behind the eyes in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . It was Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. The biography of this man is inextricably linked with the history of the most powerful and invincible power in the world - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
From father to son
The future party leader was born on November 21, 1902. Khvalynsk district, Saratov province, the village of Shakhovskoye is the birthplace of Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. The family of Andrei Andreyevich, father of Mikhail, was very poor. For lack of own economy, the father of M. A. Suslov was forced to earn extra money in the oil fields of Azerbaijan. Being an active and energetic man, Andrei Andreyevich, in 1916, collecting an artel from the artisans of carpentry and carpentry, he moved to Arkhangelsk. After him, the family followed to the shores of the Northern Dvina. It was there, in the north of Russia, that the Suslovs learned about the October Revolution and soon returned to their native village. Upon returning to his homeland, the father of Mikhail Andreevich joined the Bolshevik party and subsequently engaged in party and ideological work in the Khvalynsk district committee and city council. The further fate of the father and family members of M. A. Suslov is unknown. Unreliable sources of information report tragic events in the Suslov family. In 1920, two children die after a typhoid epidemic, and the party’s ideologist is silent about what happened to the two surviving brothers and sisters. It is only known that the mother of M. A. Suslov survived to ninety years.
Komsomol activist
Following his father, in 1918, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov became involved in social and political activities. His biography begins with the Committee of the poor of the village of Shakhovskoye, where a sixteen-year-old advances at the behest of his heart, barely having received primary education. After joining the Komsomol organization in 1920, the revolutionary activity of the young man becomes more noticeable. On his initiative, a rural Komsomol cell was created, which he soon headed. It was during this period that his organizational and ideological qualities were revealed. The report "On the personal life of a member of the Komsomol" prepared for the meeting of Komsomol activists revealed the dogmatic style of thinking of the young author. The lecturer instructively presented the youth present the rules of conduct and moral values that the Komsomol member should observe. By decision of the meeting, this “moral code” was approved and recommended for distribution in other Komsomol cells.
Moving to Moscow
1921 marks a turning point for a nineteen-year-old man. On the recommendation of the Komsomol organization, M. A. Suslov joined the Communist Party, and soon after a permit from a local organization of members of the CPSU (B.), He was sent to Moscow to study at the Prechistensky Workers' Faculty. In 1924, M. A. Suslov entered the Institute of National Economy, now the Russian Economic University named after Plekhanov, where he combines academic studies with violent political activity, being an active member of the party organization of a higher educational institution. Political activity and extraordinary abilities of a young man allow him to engage in pedagogical activities. As a student of REU them. Plekhanov, he teaches in the capital's college of chemical industry. Having completed his studies at a metropolitan university in 1928, Mikhail Andreevich continued his career growth at the newly created Moscow Economic Institute of the Red Professions, which is intended to prepare a new party intelligentsia. In the future, “red professor” Mikhail Andreevich Suslov, whose biography in the 1920s is closely connected with teaching, teaches students the basics of political economy. Moscow University, Metropolitan Industrial Academy, Moscow Institute of Fine Arts G. V. Plekhanova is far from a complete track record of the teaching activities of a young scientist.
Interesting Facts
It was during the teaching activities of M. A. Suslov in the years 1929-1930 at the Industrial Academy that he met with the secretary of the party committee of this higher educational institution N. S. Khrushchev and the wife of I. V. Dzhugashvili (Stalin) Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who would end in two years suicide under mysterious circumstances. However, close acquaintance with the future party leader of the Soviet Union N. S. Khrushchev did not arise. This will happen later, at the end of the 40s, when Mikhail Andreevich Suslov will enter the elite of the country's party nomenclature.
Mikhail Andreevich Suslov: biography of the 30s
In the spring of 1931, M. A. Suslov was transferred to the Control Commission under the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the People’s Commissariat of the Workers 'and Peasants' Inspection, abbreviated as the Central Control Commission, where he deals with the personal affairs of members of the Bolshevik party, monitors party discipline violations by his colleagues, and also appeals by their exclusion from members of the CPSU (b). It should be noted that he coped with his duties perfectly, causing fear in the party nomenclature. The efforts of the vigilant communist did not go unnoticed, and soon, in 1934, M. A. Suslov headed the Party Control Commission under the SNK of the USSR.
The conductor of the Stalinist terror
The wave of numerous repressions in Rostov-on-Don and the Rostov region occurred in 1937-1938. It was during this period that the party organization of the region was headed by M. A. Suslov, being the second secretary of the regional party committee. The fact that there is not a single party organizer left at the regional enterprises testifies to a lot. In honor were nominees from the "Stakhanov" ranks. A striking example is Nikita Izotov, a miner who headed coal enterprises in the Rostov Region. The destruction of the party activism of the region opened the way for Mikhail Andreevich to higher party peaks. In 1939, Suslov led the party headquarters of the Stavropol Territory, which allows him to freely enter the highest echelon of power. A nominee from the Stavropol Territory becomes a member of the Central Audit Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
War and post-war years
The war in the Stavropol Territory came in 1942. After the capture of Rostov-on-Don, Hitler's goal was the North Caucasus. The main task of the party for M. A. Suslov was the creation of a partisan movement, with which he coped well, heading the regional headquarters of the partisan movement. After the liberation of most of the territory of the Soviet Union, the country needed experienced party leaders. So, the further fate of M. A. Suslov is inextricably linked with the restoration and development of the socialist system:
- 1944 - Chairman of the Committee of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in Lithuania.
- 1947 - Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.).
- 1949-1950 - chief editor of the newspaper of the Central Committee of the CPSU "Pravda".
- 1952 - Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee.
- 1952-1982 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
The main party ideologist died on January 25, 1982, nine months before the death of L. I. Brezhnev. At that time, he was one of the oldest leaders of the highest party echelon.
Mikhail Andreevich Suslov: the personal life of a party member
During the years of the so-called stagnation, it was not customary to spread about the personal life of the party bosses of the country. Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was no exception. The family of the country's main ideologist consisted of three people:
- Wife - Kotyleva (Suslova) Elizaveta Aleksandrovna (b. 1903), died in 1972.
- Children: son Revolii Mikhailovich (b. 1929) and daughter Maya Mikhailovna.
Suslov Revoliy Mikhailovich, Major General for Radar, headed the Scientific Center for Radio Electronic Systems in Moscow for more than 15 years. The daughter of M. A. Suslov, Sumarokova M. M. moved with her family to Austria, where she lives today.