Arseny Grigoryevich Zverev (; 2 March 1900 – 27 July 1969) was a Soviet and Russian politician, economist and statesman whose career spanned the rules of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

and

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

, but culminated during the Stalin years. Zverev was born in a little village just outside

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. After years in local politics, he rose to prominence as a Deputy Commissar of Finance, but he also held other lesser posts such as a member of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the So ...

. As Deputy Commissar of Finance he was able to work up, and eventually get promoted to People's Commissar for Finance (renamed to Ministry in 1946). Later, Zverev gained a seat in both the Central Committee and the

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

. During the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

he was responsible for providing funds for the Soviet military machine to fight the Germans. After the war he lost his Ministership, but was again made Minister of Finance late in 1948. He was replaced as Minister of Finance by Vasily Garbuzov in 1960. Zverev then held the office of Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union for four

convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...

s. He died in July 1969.

Early life and career

Zverev was born in Tikhomirovo Klin,

Klinsky Uyezd Klinsky Uyezd (''Клинский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Moscow Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Klin. Demographics At the time of the ...

Moscow Oblast Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

to a working-class family. Before attending university, Zverev worked from 1913 to 1919 at two factories, the first being Vysokovsky manufactory located in

and Trekhgorny factory in the city of

. By 1919 he had joined both the

All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

(VKP(b)) and the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

to fight in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He became a platoon commander over a cavalry regiment before the

demobilization Demobilization or demobilisation (see American and British English spelling differences, spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or becaus ...

of the army in 1922. In 1922, he became the head of the local Agitation and Propaganda Department, and two years later, an agent of the provincial Financial Department of Moscow. He did however continue his work as an industrial worker for a short-period of time, before leaving for good. In 1927 he became Chairman of the Executive Committee of

Klin KLIN (1400 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. It is licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, and is owned by NRG Media. The studios are in Broadcast House at 44th Street and East O Street ( U.S. Route 34). KLIN i ...

, and later in 1929, Head of Tax Administration of the Financial Department of

Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Oblast (), informally also called Smolenshchina (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Russ ...

. The following year he also became the Head of the Financial Department of

Bryansk Oblast Bryansk Oblast (), also known as Bryanshchina (, ), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Bryansk. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 1,169,161. Geography Bryansk Oblast lies in weste ...

. From 1931 to 1932 he attended the Moscow Institute of Finance and Economics and from 1936 to 1937 a District Council Chairman in Moscow. In 1937 he became the First Secretary of the Molotov District Committee of the RCP(b) of Moscow. Zverev graduated and got his degree from the Moscow Institute of Finance in 1949.

Minister of Finance (1938–1960)

Due to mass arrests perpetrated by the Soviet state in the 1930s, known as the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, Zverev along with many others were quickly promoted to the top of

Soviet bureaucracy The Soviet bureaucracy played a crucial role in the governance and administration of the USSR. A class of high-ranking party bureaucrats, known as the ''nomenklatura'', formed a ''de facto'' elite, wielding immense power over public life. History ...

. He was a member of the

from 1937 to 1950 and again from 1954 to 1962. In the meantime he held a range of offices in government, the first being the position of Deputy Commissar for Finance in September 1937 but was again quickly promoted, this time to the office of the People's Commissar for Finance, the head of Soviet finance. Zverev was given a seat in the Central Committee in 1939. During the Great Patriotic War, Zverev was responsible for providing the necessary funds for the Soviet military for the production of new equipment. During the war, the price for goods also increased. In 1948, from February to December that same year, he was downgraded to Deputy Minister of Finance. He got his old office back in December 1948 and in October 1952 became a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee. He lost his seat following Stalin's death in 1953.

Later years and death

Following his departure from the office of Minister of Finance, he became Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on 1-2 and 4-5

s before leaving politics for good. In 1961 he became a Professor of the All-Union Correspondence of Financial Institution. Zverev died in

on 27 July 1969. He was buried at

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

in Moscow.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zverev, Arseny 1900 births 1969 deaths category:People from Klinsky District People from Klinsky Uyezd Candidates of the Presidium of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Ministers of finance of the Soviet Union First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Second convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Fourth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Fifth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Soviet economists 20th-century Russian economists Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation alumni Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery