Fyodor Davydovich Kulakov () (4 February 1918 – 17 July 1978) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

statesman during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Kulakov served as

Stavropol Stavropol (, ), known as Voroshilovsk from 1935 until 1943, is a city and the administrative centre of Stavropol Krai, in southern Russia. As of the 2021 Census, its population was 547,820, making it one of Russia's fastest growing cities. E ...

First Secretary from 1960 until 1964, immediately following

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 ...

's ouster. During his First Secretaryship in Stavropol, Kulakov met

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the last leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

; Kulakov became Gorbachev's mentor, and when he left his Stavropol First Secretaryship to enter national politics, Gorbachev took over his former office. Kulakov was elected to several important seats in the 1960s. In 1971, he was elected to the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

. He became a leading figure of Soviet leadership, and impressed Soviet leader

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

to such an extent that Western commentators believed that Kulakov would become Brezhnev's successor. This did not happen since Kulakov died in 1978, four years before Brezhnev.

Career

Kulakov was born in 1918 to a

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

family in

Penza Oblast Penza Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Penza. As of the Russian Census (2010), 2010 Census, its population was ...

. Like his parents, Kulakov studied and graduated as an

agronomist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.) is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the Uni ...

. In 1938, Kulakov started work in a sugar combine, and attended an Agricultural Institute, from which he graduated in 1941. In 1940, he became a member of 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 ...

and became a leading figure in the local

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...

regional committee. Kulakov was later appointed to the position of Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Regional Party Committee of the Penza Oblast. In Penza, Kulakov became a close companion of future

Soviet leader During History of the Soviet Union, its 69-year history, the Soviet Union usually had a ''de facto'' leader who would not always necessarily be head of state or even head of government but would lead while holding an office such as General Sec ...

Konstantin Chernenko Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko ( – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1984 until his death a year later. Born to a poor family in Siberia, Chernenko jo ...

. He advanced through the Soviet hierarchy quickly and in 1955 he became Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

(RSFSR), eventually being promoted to Minister of Grain Products. In 1960, he was appointed to First Secretary of the

Regional Party Committee. During his tenure as Stavropol First Secretary he appointed

to the provincial level of the party apparatus—a promotion which would prove to be crucial. In 1964, he left his office in Stavropol to pursue national politics; Gorbachev took over his former office as First Secretary. Throughout his tenure in

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 ...

, Kulakov remained a loyal client of

Mikhail Suslov Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov (; 25 January 1982) was a Soviet people, Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Secretariat, Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Sovi ...

. In 1964, Kulakov was brought to Moscow to become the Head of the Agricultural Department of the Central Committee. Eleven months later, Kulakov was appointed to the post of Central Committee Secretary for Agriculture. He was elected to the Central Committee in 1964, and to a seat in the

Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who was the ninth winn ...

in September 1965. Gorbachev would often consult with Kulakov, as their closeness helped Gorbachev establish friendly relations with

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

chairman

Yuri Andropov Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov ( – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from late 1982 until his death in 1984. He previously served as the List of Chairmen of t ...

. At the 24th Party Congress, Kulakov became a Political Bureau (Politburo) member without serving a term as candidate member. It is believed that Kulakov greatly impressed

due to his achievements in

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

and politics. Three other young Politburo members,

Volodymyr Shcherbytsky Volodymyr Vasyliovych Shcherbytsky (17 February 1918 – 16 February 1990) was a Ukrainian Soviet politician who served as First Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party from 1972 to 1989. A close ally of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, Sh ...

, Alexander Shelepin and Dmitry Polyansky, were all believed to have a future in the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

, while

First World The concept of the First World was originally one of the " Three Worlds" formed by the global political landscape of the Cold War, as it grouped together those countries that were aligned with the Western Bloc of the United States. This groupin ...

commentators speculated that Kulakov's future was more in line with political and executive work at the top level of leadership. Kulakov was one of four who had a seat in both the Secretariat and Politburo; the others were Brezhnev, Suslov, and

Andrei Kirilenko Andrei Gennadyevich Kirilenko (; born February 18, 1981), nicknamed AK-47, is a Russian basketball executive and former professional basketball player. At age fifteen, Kirilenko began playing professional basketball in the Russian Basketball ...

. In his later years, Kulakov had become one of Kirilenko's "counterweights" in the Central Committee. While Brezhnev never had a clear heir apparent, Kulakov was seen as a likely successor due to his age. His most notable competitors, Kirilenko and Suslov, were older than Brezhnev and therefore not seen as likely candidates. Despite this widespread belief, in the prestige order voted by the

Supreme Soviet The Supreme Soviet () was the common name for the legislative bodies (parliaments) of the Soviet socialist republics (SSR) in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). These soviets were modeled after the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, establ ...

in 1975, Kulakov was ranked seventh. During the latter part of his life, Kulakov's relations with Brezhnev, Chernenko, and other leading officials seemed to have shifted in tone, leading Kulakov to be excluded from the 1978 Central Committee plenum on Agriculture. It has been presumed that Kulakov had shifted his allegiance from Chernenko's faction to that of Kirilenko and Andropov. Another incident was that Kulakov had argued with Gorbachev before his death.

Death

The most commonly assumed cause of Kulakov's death is natural causes, but there exist other theories as well. During Brezhnev's later term, according to some, Brezhnev was living in fear of

. Anonymous sources state that Andropov may have had been involved in the deaths of Kulakov in 1978, and

Pyotr Masherov Pyotr Mironovich Masherov (né Mashero; – 4 October 1980) was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during World War II who governed the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as First Secretary ...

in 1980. According to Fyodor Morgun, a politician of

and Ukrainian descent, Kulakov seemed worried just days before his death. Some believe that Kulakov may have committed suicide. According to Mikhail Gorbachev, no members of the Politburo cancelled or interrupted their holidays when hearing the news of Kulakov's death. His successor to the office of Secretary for Agriculture was his former

protégé Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...

, Gorbachev. Kulakov was cremated and his ashes was buried at the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...

. While all Politburo members were obliged by protocol to attend a fellow Politburo member's funeral, none of those who had allegiance to Chernenko and Brezhnev did so. Those who had sworn allegiance to Kirilenko and Andropov were present, including such prominent figures as Arvīds Pelše,

Kirill Mazurov Kirill Trofimovich Mazurov (, ; 25 March 1914 – 19 December 1989) was a Soviet people, Soviet partisan, politician, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during World War II who governed the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic a ...

Andrei Gromyko Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko ( – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet politician and diplomat during the Cold War. He served as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as List of heads of state of the So ...

, and

Dmitry Ustinov Dmitriy Fyodorovich Ustinov (; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was a Soviet politician and a Marshal of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as a Central Committee secretary in charge of the Soviet military–industrial comple ...

. Kirilenko served as the funeral's chief eulogist.

Notes

Bibliography

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External links