The legend of the USSR and the beloved People's Commissar of Stalin Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan began his political career during the life of Lenin, and resigned only under Brezhnev. In addition to revolutionary political activity, he was involved in the creation of the food industry in the Soviet Union. It was Mikoyan who brought the country the most delicious ice cream recipe and came up with “Soviet Champagne”. We will talk about the life and work of a statesman in an article.
Biography
Anastas Mikoyan was born on November 13, 1895 in the village of Sanahin of the Russian Empire (now it is the territory of Armenia). He came from a poor family of peasants. Father, Hovhannes Nersesovich, worked in Manes at a smelter. Mother, Tamara Otarovna, was engaged in raising children. Anastas had two brothers, Anushavan and Yervand, and two sisters, Voskeat and Astghik. Brother Anushavan, better known as Artyom, later became a famous Soviet aircraft designer.
By nationality Anastas Mikoyan is Armenian, and as a child he first studied Armenian literacy. Then he mastered Russian, read a lot. He was especially fascinated by books of historical and national liberation themes.
In 1906 he entered the Tiflis Theological Seminary. In 1914 he joined the volunteer Armenian squad of Andranik Ozanyan and went to fight on the Turkish Front. It is not known how the biography of Anastas Mikoyan would have developed further if in the spring of 1915 he did not have to leave the army because of malaria.
The young man returned to Tiflis and graduated from seminary. Then he entered the theological academy of the city of Etchmiadzin. After the February Revolution, he was engaged in party propaganda activities in Baku and Tiflis.
In October 1919, Anastas Mikoyan, whose biography by that time already included participation in many revolutionary movements, was summoned to Moscow and made a member of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
1920-1930s
In 1920, the party went to Baku, where he became authorized by the Revolutionary Military Council of the XI Army. Soon he was appointed secretary of the Southeast Bureau of the Party Central Committee. In this post, Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan worked until 1924, and then became secretary of the North Caucasus Regional Committee.
In August 1926, he took the post of People's Commissar of Internal and Foreign Trade. In November 1930 he headed the People’s Commissariat of Supply, in 1934 - the People’s Commissariat of the Food Industry. Thanks to the smart leadership of Mikoyan, the food industry has developed rapidly in the country. In 1936, the People's Commissar flew to the USA, purchased equipment and studied production technologies. Literally in months, he set up production of sausages, sausages, meatballs, canned goods, cookies, sugar, sweets, bread and tobacco in the USSR.
In 1938, Anastas Ivanovich became Commissar of Foreign Trade and was elected to the Supreme Council of the BASSR.
The Great Patriotic War
With the beginning of the Second World War, Mikoyan took over as chairman of the Red Army Food and Clothing Committee. In addition, he was a member of the evacuation council and the state committee for the restoration of the economy in the liberated areas. Since 1942 he was a member of the State Defense Committee.
11/06/1942 on Red Square, Anastas Ivanovich’s car was shot by a deserted Red Army soldier Savely Dmitriev, who mistook her for Stalin’s car. Stop the criminal who staged a street battle, it turned out only with the help of two grenades. The politician was not injured.
In 1943, for his services in supplying the army with food and clothing, Mikoyan was given the title Hero of Socialist Labor, was awarded the Hammer and Sickle medal and the Order of Lenin.
Post-war time
In 1946, with the transformation of the Council of People's Commissars into the Council of Ministers, Anastas Ivanovich retained the posts of deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Foreign Trade. On his initiative, the Chechen Autonomous Region was formed. When the question arose about the deportation of the Ingush and Chechens, Mikoyan did not agree with Stalin, saying that such actions would undermine the international authority of the Soviet Union. Since then, the politician fell into disgrace of the leader of the peoples, which lasted until the death of Joseph Vissarionovich.
In 1949, Mikoyan was removed from the post of Minister of Foreign Trade. He was elected to the Presidium of the Central Committee, but he was not included in the Bureau of the Presidium.
After Stalin
When the leader of the peoples died, Anastas Ivanovich headed the newly formed Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade. In 1954, Khrushchev sent him to Yugoslavia to solve diplomatic tasks. In 1957, the minister visited Asian countries as a confidant of Nikita Sergeyevich, and in 1959 he visited the United States in the same capacity.
In 1962, during the Caribbean crisis, fraught with the outbreak of World War III, it was Mikoyan who was assigned the task of holding negotiations between the USA, the USSR and Cuba. At the cost of incredible efforts, he successfully completed his mission and reached an agreement on the non-aggression of America in Cuba.
In November 1963, the politician represented the country's leadership at the funeral of John F. Kennedy. From July 1964 to December 1965, Anastas Mikoyan was Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He was the only member of the Politburo of the Central Committee who did not participate in the conspiracy to remove Khrushchev. For this, Mikoyan disliked Brezhnev and in December 1965, at the first opportunity, dismissed him as having reached the age of seventy.
A family
Anastas Ivanovich’s father died in 1918, and his mother then lived for many years with her son. Mikoyan was married to a woman named Ashhen Lazarevna Tumanyan. In her marriage, five children were born, all boys: Stepan, Vladimir, Alexei, Vano and Sergo.
In 1962, a sad event occurred in the personal life of Anastas Mikoyan - his wife died. As for the sons, four of them, following the example of their uncles, devoted themselves to aviation, and the fifth became a historian. Now, of the children of Mikoyan, no one was left alive, but there are grandchildren. One of them is Stas Namin - a famous musician and composer.
During his life, the politician was a good family man, after the death of his wife remained faithful to her. The children and grandchildren of Anastas Mikoyan spoke of him as a caring father and grandfather.
Last years
Having retired in 1965, the politician remained a member of the party and the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. But honor was given to him only in words. In fact, the statesman was deprived of many privileges and privileges, he was evicted from the dacha, where he lived without a break for almost half a century.
Since 1974, the biography of Anastas Mikoyan was no longer associated with politics. He did not participate in the work of the Supreme Council. In 1976, he was not present at the XXV Congress of the CPSU and was not elected a member of the Central Committee of the party.
10/21/1978 Anastas Ivanovich died in Moscow, not having lived a month before his 83rd birthday. He was buried in the Novodevichy cemetery of the capital. At the politician’s grave there is an epitaph in Armenian.
Interesting Facts
Anastas Mikoyan was a man of fascinating and instructive fate. In our country, he showed an example of unusual political longevity. At the age of thirty, he became the youngest Commissar in the USSR and a member of the Politburo - before and after no one in Russia held such high posts in such an early age.
Interestingly, from childhood Mikoyan was a vegetarian, but subsequently began to eat meat. He was also very fond of ice cream and made sure that it was produced in the country with high quality. It was Anastas Ivanovich who introduced the USSR to the famous "fish days", which were held in all public catering on Thursdays. For lunch these days they served dishes exclusively of fish - for unloading.
Stalin with enviable regularity invited members of the Politburo to his country house. During dinner, he started a gramophone and called everyone to dance. Despite the fact that most party members did not know how to do this, they could not refuse the leader and moved awkwardly, shifting from one foot to another and not falling into the beat of the music. The only person who always danced famously was Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan. Moreover, he could dance to any melody and constantly the same dance - lezginka.
The extraordinary nature of Mikoyan was invariably admired by Western politicians. Walter Bedell Smith, the American ambassador to the USSR, spoke of him as a "smart little Armenian around the world." And Averell Harriman, Smith's predecessor, said that Anastas Ivanovich is the only person in the Kremlin to talk to. Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of Germany, called Mikoyan a great diplomat and at the same time the best economist. Foreign observers characterized Anastas Ivanovich as a "Soviet liquidator of bottlenecks." And these were not empty words. Whatever the foreign policy problem arises, Mikoyan dealt with it. And he solved all questions successfully and competently.