Valentin Mikhailovich Falin (; 3 April 1926 – 22 February 2018) 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

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 ...

Early life

Falin was born 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 ...

. He graduated from the

Moscow State Institute of International Relations Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (, also known as MGIMO University) is an higher education, institute of higher education located in Moscow, Russia. The institute is run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Russian ...

in 1950.

Career

From 1951 to 1958, he worked at the USSR Foreign Ministry. From 1971 to 1978, he was the Ambassador of the USSR to the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. In 1978, he was appointed First Deputy Chief of the International Information Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU, a post he left in January 1983 for personal reasons. From 1982 to 1986 he was a political observer, then editor and chief editor in the newspaper

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

. On 10 March 1986 Falin was elected by the Council of Sponsors of the Novosti Press Agency to the position of chairman of the APN board. In 1988–1991 he was the Chief of the International Department of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union 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 ...

. While Falin headed the International Department, its special section for Party Technology, which was located in Room 516, was headed by an alleged specialist in black operations the ''komitetchik'' () Vladimir Osintsev () who allegedly supported active measures for Communist Party influence campaigns in countries in which the Communist Party was banned including Chile, El Salvador, South Africa and Turkey. In August 1991, Falin allegedly ordered the desturuction of the files in the International Department. Following the failed 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, he left government service. From 1992 to 2000, he worked at Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy of Hamburg University (''Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik an der Universität Hamburg'') in Germany. He returned to Russia in 2000 and lived in Moscow.

Bibliography

* Die letzte Nuklearexplosion. Изд-во АПН, Москва, 1986. — 309 стр. * Helden. München: Psychosozial-Verlag-Union, 1987. — 159 S. * Ziele und Voraussetzungen eines geeinten Europas Vorstellung des Projektes Strategien und Optionen für die Zukunft Europas. Gütersloh: Verlag Bertelsmann-Stiftung, 1988. — 39 S. * Politische Erinnerungen. München: Verlag Droemer Knaur, 1993—518 S. * Zweite Front. Die Interessenkonflikte in der Anti-Hitler-Koalition. München: Verlag Droemer Knaur, 1995. * Konflikte im Kreml. München: Blessing, 1997. — 317 S. * Alexander Kluge. Valentin Falin. — Rotbuch Verlag, 1995.

Notes

References

External links

* War and Peace in the Nuclear Age documentary full interviews
7 April 19869 December 198630 December 1987

Интервью Валентина Фалина: Вторая мировая началась не в 39-м

Hamburger Beiträge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falin, Valentin 1926 births 2018 deaths Soviet politicians Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to West Germany 20th-century Russian historians Diplomats from Saint Petersburg Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the USSR State Prize Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni Honorary members of the Russian Academy of Arts Members of the Central Auditing Commission of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Auditing Commission of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Candidates of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Secretariat of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Academic staff of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery