Nikolai Dudorov (; 1906–1977) was a Soviet politician who served as the

minister of internal affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

between 1956 and 1960.

Early life and education

Dudorov was born in a village, Mishnevo, in Vladimir province in 1906. In 1927 he joined the Communist Party. He attended the Mendeleev Institute in Moscow from 1929 and graduated in 1934.

Career

Following his graduation Dudorov began to work as a factory shop manager. In 1937 he became part of the industrial bureaucracy and was appointed secretary of the committee of the heavy industry of the Communist Party. After serving in various posts he was named as the head the construction department of the Communist Party's central committee in December 1954. Dudorov was appointed minister of internal affairs, and his appointment was endorsed by 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 ...

on 30 January 1956. He replaced Sergei Kruglov in the post. On 25 February he was also elected a full member of the central committee of the Communist Party in the twentieth congress. Dudorov's appointment as the minister of internal affairs was the end of the hegemony of the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

(People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs) origin figures in the ministry. One of the reasons for Dudorov's appointment by Soviet leader

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 ...

was his organization skills which were needed to reorganize the Gulag system, the network of forced labor camps. Dudorov advocated

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

as a solution to the Gulag problem. He also developed a detailed plan to modify the Gulag, but his plan was not accepted by the related commission although it included three major points, namely Khrushchev's idea of smaller camps, Stalin's views on the prison camps based on industrial development and dominant ideas of the ministry executives on criminals. Later, Dudorov managed to implement a plan to reorganize the penal system depending on smaller colonies, but the plan was not a success. Dudorov's reformist views could not save him from the dismissal on 1 May 1960. Dudorov's membership in the central committee of the Communist party also ended in 1961. From 1960 to 1967 Dudorov was the general commissioner of the World Exhibition. His last post was the head of a department under the Moscow City executive committee which he held from 1962 to his retirement in 1972 .

Personal life and death

Dudorov was married to Zoya Alekseevna Dudorova (1910–2002), and they had two children, a daughter and a son. Dudorov died in Moscow in March 1977 and buried there in the

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 ...

Awards

Dudorov was the recipient of the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

(twice), the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

and the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudorov, Nikolai 1906 births 1977 deaths Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Ministers of internal affairs of the Soviet Union D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia alumni Members of the Central Committee of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union People from Vladimir Oblast Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star