Yefrem Yevseyevich Sokolov (, ; 25 April 1926 – 5 April 2022) was a Belarusian politician, who served as a first secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussian SSR from February 1987 to November 1990. Sokolov was a member of the 28th

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 ...

, elected on 14 July 1990 by the 1st Plenary Session of the 28th Central Committee.

Biography

He was born into a Belarusian peasant family. From 1944 to the end of the decade he served in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

, then worked as a driver on a farm of the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy, where he graduated from in 1956. It was here where he joined the CPSU and in 1961, he graduated from the

Higher Party School Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU () was a higher party-political educational institution in the Soviet Union for the training and retraining of the leadership of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Soviet state, ...

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 ...

. In 1969, he became part of the apparatus of the Central Committee and was in 1977 appointed party chief for Brest. From 6 February 1987 to 30 November 1990, he was First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus, being the last one to serve as the '' de facto'' head of the Byelorussian SSR. From 1989–1991, he was a member of the

Supreme Soviet of the USSR 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 S ...

. Since 1990, he had been a pensioner and continued political activities such as heading the Council of the Communist Party of Belarus. Sokolov's death was announced on 5 April 2022, at the age of 95.Умер один из последних глав БССР
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References

1926 births 2022 deaths People from Horki district Candidates of the Central Committee of the 26th 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 Politburo of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Tenth convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Eleventh convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union Heads of the Communist Party of Byelorussia Communist Party of Byelorussia politicians Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour {{Belarus-politician-stub