Nikolai Tikhonov
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Nikolai Tikhonov
Николай Тихонов |
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| In office October 23, 1980 – September 27, 1985 |
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| Preceded by | Alexey Kosygin |
| Succeeded by | Nikolai Ryzhkov |
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| Born | May 14, 1905 Kharkiv, Imperial Russia |
| Died | June 1, 1997 (aged 92) Moscow, Russia |
| Nationality | Russian |
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov (Russian: Николай Александрович Тихонов; Kharkiv, May 14, 1905 – Moscow, June 1, 1997) was the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR from 1980 to 1985.
Tikhonov was trained as an engineer at the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute earning his degree in 1930. From 1930 until 1941 he worked at the Lenin Metallurgical Plant in Dnepropetrovsk and was promoted to senior engineer.
Leonid Brezhnev was a rising party official in Dnepropetrovsk and he and Tikhonov became friends. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1940, became a plant director in Ukraine in the late 1940s and became an official in the Ministry of Ferrous Metallurgy in the 1950s becoming deputy minister in 1955. In 1960 Tikhonov became a member of the State Scientific and Economic Council and in 1961 he became a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
Brezhnev became First Secretary of the Communist Party in 1964 and promoted Tikhonov to the position of deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR on October 2, 1965. After September 2, 1976, Tikhonov was one of two First Deputy Chairmen.
Tikhonov also rose in party ranks: In 1966, the 23rd party congress also elected Tikhonov a full member of the Central Committee and in 1979 he became a full member of the Politburo.
In 1980, at the age of 75, he became Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Tikhonov retained his post through uder Andropov and Chernenko.
In 1984, he supported Gorbachev election to the Secretariat of the Central Committee. Gorbachev subsequently became General Secretary in the following year.
Shortly afterwards, in September 1985, Tikhonov was replaced as premier. In October 1985 he was also removed from the Politburo but remained on the Central Committee of the party until 1989. In a 1989 letter to Gorbachev, Tikhonov commented that he regretted his earlier support of Gorbachev.
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| Preceded by Alexey Kosygin |
Premier of the Soviet Union 1980–1985 |
Succeeded by Nikolai Ryzhkov |
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