Mikhail Nikolayevich Smirnovsky (; 7 August 1921 – 9 June 1989) 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 ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and a specialist in Soviet relations with English-speaking countries. He was first secretary of the Soviet Embassy in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1953, and served a second time in Washington as the minister-counselor and second-ranking officer of the Embassy at the beginning of the 1960s. Around 1963, Smirnovsky returned to the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

in Moscow, where he was chief of the USA section of the Ministry. In 1966, he became Soviet

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

(with concurrent accreditation in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

starting in 1967), where he served until 1973. It is believed that he was later, 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 ...

, a member of the Foreign Ministry's Collegium, understood to have been an advisory group of senior officers. He played in US-Soviet relations at critical times, including the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

of 1962. Smirnovsky was viewed by American colleagues as an efficient, businesslike diplomat who, in contrast to many other Soviet officials, eschewed rudeness and avoided unnecessary exaggeration.

References

1921 births 1989 deaths Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary (Soviet Union) Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to Malta Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to the United Kingdom Members of the Central Auditing Commission of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Auditing Commission of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Moscow Aviation Institute alumni Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery {{Russia-politician-stub Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour