Nikolai Alekseevich Voznesensky (russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Вознесе́нский, – 1 October 1950) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

politician and economic planner who oversaw the running of

Gosplan The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until the dissolution of ...

(State Planning Committee) during the

German-Soviet 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), and Sout ...

. A protégé of

Andrei Zhdanov Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, p=ɐnˈdrej ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈʐdanəf, links=yes; – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and cultural ideologist. After World War ...

, Voznesensky was appointed Deputy Premier in May 1940.

Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Jonathan Sebag Montefiore (; born 27 June 1965) is a British historian, television presenter and author of popular history books and novels, including ''Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar' (2003), Monsters: History's Most Evil Men and ...

, ''Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 2003, p.310. He was directly involved in the recovery of production associated with the movement of industry eastwards at the start of the war. His work ''The Economy of the USSR during World War II'' is his account of these years. Following the war, Voznesensky was persecuted during the Leningrad affair. In a secret trial, he was found guilty of

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, sentenced to death and executed the same day. He was rehabilitated in 1954. He was a close associate of

Alexei Kosygin Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Косы́гин, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsɨɡʲɪn; – 18 December 1980) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premi ...

and

Mikhail Rodionov Mikhail Ivanovich Rodionov (russian: Михаи́л Ива́нович Родио́нов; – 1 October 1950) was a Soviet- Russian statesman who was from 1946 to 1949 the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR, literally meanin ...

Biography

Early life

Nikolai Voznesensky was born in Tula in the family of a clerk of a forestry office. He was the younger brother of

Alexander Voznesensky Alexander Alexeyevich Voznesensky (russian: Александр Алексеевич Вознесенский) (March 5, 1898—October 28, 1950) was a Soviet statesman, economist and brother of Nikolai Voznesensky. Biography Born in ...

. Voznesensky joined the Komsomol in 1919 and quickly rose through its ranks becoming the editor in chief of the ''Kommunar'' newspaper which was the official organ of the Tula Komsomol District in 1925. After graduating from the

Sverdlov Communist University The Sverdlov Communist University ( Russian: Коммунистический университет имени Я. М. Свердлова) was a school for Soviet activists in Moscow, founded in 1918 as the Central School for Soviet and Party Work ...

he was sent to study at the economic faculty of the Institute of Red Professors in 1928 and later himself became a professor of the institute from 1931. In 1935 he was awarded the academic degree of Doctor of Economics.

Rise to power and World War II

Voznesensky was quickly rising through the ranks of the party with the help of his mentor Andrei Zhdanov. In 1934 he became a member of the Central Control Commission and was the representative of the party control commission in Donetsk. From 1935 to 1937 he was the head of the Leningrad Control Commission and in November 1937 he was appointed deputy head of the

State Planning Committee The State Planning Committee, commonly known as Gosplan ( rus, Госплан, , ɡosˈpɫan), was the agency responsible for economic planning, central economic planning in the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 and remaining in existence until ...

(Gosplan), which he was then appointed Chairman in 1938. In 1941 he was elected as a candidate member of the Politburo of the VKP (b), and he received the newly created post of Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, making him of the most powerful men in the Soviet Union at the age of thirty eight. During the

he was a member of the State Defense Committee and a member of the Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR for the restoration of the economy in the liberated territories.

Post World War II and Leningrad Affair

From February 28, 1947 to March 1, 1949 he was a full member of the Politburo of the All-Union Communist Party (b). Voznesensky was one of the people in charge of the reconstruction of the Soviet economy after the war and was also a member of the commission of the Soviet Union's nuclear project. After the death of Andrei Zhdanov, Voznesensky disappeared from public life for a period of time. In connection with the Leningrad Affair, on March 7, 1949, he was removed from the post of deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and removed from the Politburo of the Central Committee. From a resolution adopted by the Central Committee, Voznesensky was accused of being purposefully responsible for "..the disappearance of secret documents in the USSR State Planning Committee". He was arrested on October 27, 1949, and was sentenced to death on the night of September 30, 1950. He is believed to have been shot shortly after the verdict was announced. Voznesensky was rehabilitated by the

Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Военная коллегия Верховного суда СССР, ''Voennaya kollegiya Verkhovnogo suda SSSR'') was created in 1924 by the Supreme Court of the Sov ...

on April 30, 1954 and his membership was reinstated in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Honours and awards

* Two

Orders 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 b ...

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

- 1947

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Voznesensky, Nikolai 1903 births 1950 deaths People from Chernsky District People from Chernsky Uyezd Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union Second convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1938–1947 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1947–1951 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic Second convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Soviet economists Institute of Red Professors alumni Full Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Leningrad affair People executed for treason against the Soviet Union People executed for corruption Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union executed by the Soviet Union Russian people executed by the Soviet Union People from Tula Oblast Executed Soviet people from Russia Soviet rehabilitations