Semyon Ignatyev

Semyon Ignatyev

Semyon Denisovich Ignatiev, also spelled Ignatyev (Russian: Семён Денисович Игнатьев; born 14 September1904 in Karlivka, died 27 November 1983 in Moscow) was a Soviet politician.

Ignatiev, the son of a peasant,an engineer, joined the Communist Party in 1926. For most of his career, he was a discreet regional apparatchik, serving as Party Secretary in Buryat ASSR, Bashkir ASSR, Byelorussian SSR and finally Uzbek SSR. He was called to Moscow in 1950. Joseph Stalin wanted Ignatiev to counter the influence of Lavrenti Beria and Viktor Abakumov, the two leading officials of the secret police at the time.

In 1951, he was chosen by Stalin to replace Abakumov as the Minister of the MGB of the USSR. During his tenure as head of the secret police, Ignatiev investigated the Doctors' Plot and helped propagating antisemitism in the Soviet Union, acting on Stalin's direct orders.

He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1952 until 1961. He also briefly served as a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee (previously named Politburo) in the final months before Stalin's demise.

Immediately after the Soviet leader's death, Ignatiev lost most of his power, as Beria absorbed the MGB into his MVD on 5 March 1953. Ignatiev was sent back to Bashkir ASSR and ended his political career as the Party Secretary in Tatar ASSR, before retiring in 1960.

Unlike Beria and Abakumov, who were executed in 1953, Ignatiev ultimately became Stalin's only head of secret police to enjoy a peaceful death. He died in 1983 and was buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, along with many members of the Soviet elite.

References and further reading

* Gorlitzki, Yoram, Khlevniuk, Oleg, "Cold Peace: Stalin and the Soviet Ruling Circle, 1945-1953", Oxford, 2004
* Marie, Jean-Jacques, "Staline", Paris, 2001
* Sebag Montefiore, Simon, "Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar", London, 2004

External links

* [http://www.hronos.km.ru/biograf/ignattv_s.html A biography of Semyon Ignatiev] (in Russian)
* [http://www.fsb.ru/history/liders/ignatiev.html Official FSB profile of Semyon Ignatiev] (in Russian)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Ignatyev — Ignatiev or Ignatyev ( ru. Игнатьев), or Ignatieva (feminine; Игнатьева), is a common Russian last name and may refer to:*Alexander Ignatiev (1879 1936), a Soviet inventor and diplomat *Alexei Ignatiev (1877 1954), a Russian count, statesman, and …   Wikipedia

  • Lavrentiy Beria — Infobox Officeholder name = Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria Georgian: ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია, Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Берия imagesize = 113px nationality = Georgian / Soviet order = Commissariat for Internal Affairs… …   Wikipedia

  • Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies — There was a succession of Soviet secret police agencies over time. The first secret police after the Russian Revolution, created by Vladimir Lenin s decree on December 20, 1917, was called Cheka (ЧК). Officers were referred to as chekists , a… …   Wikipedia

  • Ministry for State Security (Soviet Union) — The Ministry of State Security (MGB) (Russian: Министерство государственной безопасности, Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti) was the name of Soviet secret police from 1946 to 1953. Contents 1 Origins of the MGB 2 Functions of the MGB 3… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Russian people — The Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of Russian history …   Wikipedia

  • Liste des médaillés masculins aux Championnats d'Europe d'athlétisme — Liste des médaillés masculins aux Championnats d Europe d athlétisme. Courses:  100 m 200 m 400 m 800 m 1 500 m 5 000 m 10 000 m Marathon Obstacles:  110 m haies 400 m haies 3 000 m steeple Marche:  20 km …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Военная галерея — Г. Чернецов, 1827 …   Википедия

  • KGB — For other uses, see KGB (disambiguation). Committee for State Security Комитет государственной безопасности Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti …   Wikipedia

  • List of Olympic medalists in athletics (men) — This is the complete list of men s Olympic medalists in athletics from 1896 to 2008. See also: List of Olympic medalists in athletics (women), Athletics at the Summer Olympics, and Lists of Olympic medalists Contents 1 Current program …   Wikipedia

  • List of Chairmen of the KGB — The Chairman of the KGB was the head of the Soviet KGB. He was assisted by one or two First Deputy Chairmen, and four to six Deputy Chairmen. And he was the head of the Collegium of the KGB which consisted of the Chairman, deputy chairmen,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”