Pyotr Fadeyevich Lomako (; 12 July 1904 – 27 May 1990) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, head of

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

between 1962 and 1965. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was responsible for overseeing the evacuation of Soviet industry to the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

region. He was a seven-time 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 ...

, and also received the golden medal of the

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...

Early life

Pyotr Lomako was born to a family of peasant laborers on 12 July 1904 ( O.S.: 29 June) in

Temryuk Temryuk ( rus, Темрю́к, p=tʲɪmˈrʲʉk) is a town and the administrative center of Temryuksky District in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Taman Peninsula on the right bank of the Kuban River not far from its entry into the T ...

Krasnodar Krasnodar, formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern Russia, with a population of 1,154,885 residents, and up to 1.263 millio ...

. He studied for three years at the

Plekhanov Institute of the National Economy The Plekhanov Russian University of Economics () is a public research university in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1907 by entrepreneur Alexei Vishnyakov as the first finance-specialized college in the Russian Empire. In addition to accr ...

before graduating in 1932 from the

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 ...

Institute of Nonferrous Metals and Gold. Between 1932 and 1939 he worked as an industrial manager: as a foreman, master, chief of shop, and then assistant to the chief engineer of a factory in

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, and then from 1937 as director of a nonferrous metals factory in the

Ivanovo Ivanovo (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia and the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Russia, Vladimir and Kostroma. ...

region.

Political career

Lomako joined the Communist Party in 1925. In 1939 he was made an assistant to the

People's Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English language, English transliteration of the Russian language, Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the pol ...

(Narkom) for Nonferrous Metallurgy, and in 1940 he was promoted to the post of Narkom. Lomako was a Deputy 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 ...

, being elected in the 2nd and the 4th through 8th elections to the body, serving between 1946 and 1950 and 1954 to 1989.

Second World War

As an industrial Narkom, Lomako played an important role in maintaining Soviet industry after the outbreak of war in 1941. In particular, he was responsible for managing the mass evacuation of Soviet industry to the Ural mountains region.

Post-War

Following the Second World War, Lomako remained Narkom and subsequently Minister of Non-Ferrous Metallurgy until 1948. Between 1948 and 1950, he served as Deputy Minister for the

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

and

Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

Industry. He was returned to original portfolio as a Minister in 1950, and then made Deputy Minister for Iron and Steel once again in 1951, before serving for a third time as Minister for Nonferrous Metallurgy between 1954 and 1957. In 1957 Lomako left Sovmin, becoming Chairman of the

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

People's Economic Council (Sovnarkhoz), a position he held until 1961.

Party career

Lomako was a candidate member of the

Central Committee of the CPSU The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the Central committee, highest organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) between Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Congresses. Elected by the ...

at the

19th 19 (nineteen) is the natural number following 18 and preceding 20. It is a prime number. Mathematics Nineteen is the eighth prime number. Number theory 19 forms a twin prime with 17, a cousin prime with 23, and a sexy prime with 13. ...

and 20th Congresses of the CPSU. At the 22nd Congress of the CPSU in 1961, he was elected as a member, and became Vice-President of the RSFSR Bureau of the Committee, where he served until 1962. Lomako was deselected from the Central Committee at the 25th Party Congress in 1976.

Chairman of Gosplan

Pyotr Lomako was selected to succeed

Veniamin Dymshits Veniamin Emmanuilovich Dymshits (or alternatively Benjamin Dymshitz; February 15, 1910German National Library, Berlin State Library, Bavarian State Library, Austrian National Library /General Regulatory Control– 2012–2016 – May 23, 1993) ...

as Chairman of

, the State Planning Committee, on 24 November 1962. Lomako oversaw the transitional period between

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 ...

and

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 ...

, and was therefore responsible for coordinating the Soviet economy at a time of economic uncertainty. As Lomako was also

Deputy Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

of Sovmin during this period, he fell under the direct influence of

Alexei Kosygin Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin (–18 December 1980) was a Soviet people, Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1980 and, alongside General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, was one of its most ...

, the reformist Premier. Lomako was responsible for coordinating a reformist economic policy, and is argued by contemporary Western analysts such as G. W. Simmonds to have been removed by Brezhnev in 1965 as part of a bid to weaken Kosygin's power and reintroduce economic conservatism.Simmonds, G. W. ''Soviet leaders''. New York 1967. After his removal from Gosplan, Lomako served as Minister for Non-Ferrous Metallurgy until 1985. He died in 1990 at the age of 85.

Notes and references

Sources