Kirill Trofimovich Mazurov ( be, Кіры́ла Трафі́мавіч Ма́зураў, russian: Кири́лл Трофи́мович Ма́зуров; 25 March 1914, Rudnia-Pribytkovskaya,

Mogilev Governorate The Mogilev Governorate () or Government of Mogilev was a governorate () of the Russian Empire in the territory of the present day Belarus. Its capital was in Mogilev, referred to as Mogilev-on-the-Dnieper, or Mogilev Gubernskiy. The area of t ...

– 19 December 1989) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

partisan, politician, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during World War II who governed the

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

as First Secretary of the

Communist Party of Byelorussia The Communist Party of Byelorussia (CPB; russian: Коммунистическая партия Белоруссии; be, Камуністычная партыя Беларусі) was the ruling communist party of the Byelorussian Soviet Social ...

from 1956 until 1965, when he became a member of the

Politburo of the CPSU The Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (, abbreviated: ), or Politburo ( rus, Политбюро, p=pəlʲɪtbʲʊˈro) was the highest policy-making authority within the Communist Party of the ...

Political career

Kirill Mazurov was born in 1914 in the

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

in a peasant family of Belarusian ethnicity.Герои Страны
/ref> He was originally a construction technician, and graduated from the

Gomel Gomel (russian: Гомель, ) or Homiel ( be, Гомель, ) is the administrative centre of Gomel Region and the second-largest city in Belarus with 526,872 inhabitants (2015 census). Etymology There are at least six narratives of the o ...

highway technical school in 1933. He joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union " Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspape ...

in 1940 and the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

in 1941. During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), an ...

, he participated in military actions as a political instructor, a battalion commander and an instructor of the army's political department. Mazurov left the army in 1942 to become secretary of the central committee of the Belarusian

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

. Mazurov then moved to a Soviet partisan unit where he became president of the central staff. After the war, Mazurov returned to his position as secretary of the Belarusian Komsomol. In 1947 he joined the apparatus of the

. From 1949 to 1950 he was the First Secretary of the

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

city committee and from 1950 to 1953 first secretary of the Minsk regional committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. From 1950 to 1979, he was a deputy of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

. After

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...

's death, he actively supported

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...

. He was chairman of the

council of ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

of BSSR (1953–1965), then First Secretary of the

(1956–1965). In 1964 he was appointed candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and was then a full member from 26 March 1965 to 27 November 1978. He was also the First Deputy Chairman of the

Council of Ministers A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or ...

(1965–1976). Mazurov retired in 1978. In the 1980s, he gave an interview to ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes i ...

'' in which he said he was the envoy of Brezhnev who commanded the Warsaw Pact invasion force in Czechoslovakia in 1968 under the code name "General Trofymov". He said he regretted his action, added "today I would not accept to guide one similar operation" and asked the Czechs to forgive the Soviets

Decorations

He was military decoration, awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration ...

five times, the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

, the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

1st class and was a

Hero of Socialist Labor The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

in 1971. He received other military medals as well.

External links

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Biography of Mazurov
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Biography of Mazurov
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazurov, Kirill 1914 births 1989 deaths Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery People from Gomel District People from Gomelsky Uyezd Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Third convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Fourth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Fifth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eighth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Ninth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union Heads of the Communist Party of Byelorussia Heads of government of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Soviet military personnel of World War II Belarusian partisans Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples

Political career

Decorations

Further reading

External links

References