Nikita Khrushchev

Biography

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (15 April [O.S. 3 April] 1894 – 11 September 1971) led the Soviet Union as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and as chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev stunned the communist world with his denunciation of Stalin's crimes and began de-Stalinization. He sponsored the early Soviet space program, and enactment of relatively liberal reforms in domestic policy. After some false starts, and a narrowly avoided nuclear war over Cuba, he conducted successful negotiations with the United States to reduce Cold War tensions. His proclivity toward recklessness led the Kremlin leadership to strip him of power, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.

Awards & recognition

Commemorative Medal — the 20th Anniversary of Slovak National Uprising · 1964
Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria · 1964
Hero of the Soviet Union · 1964
Order of Georgi Dimitrov · 1964
Order of Karl Marx · 1964

Show all 41 awards →

Order of Lenin · 1964
Order of Sukhbaatar · 1964
Order of the Nile · 1964
Order of the White Lion · 1964
Shevchenko National Prize · 1964
Hero of Socialist Labour · 1961
Order of Lenin · 1961
Lenin Peace Prize · 1959
Hero of Socialist Labour · 1957
Order of Lenin · 1957
Time Person of the Year · 1957
Hero of Socialist Labour · 1954
Order of Lenin · 1954
Order of Lenin · 1948
Order of Suvorov, 1st class · 1945
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class · 1945
Order of Lenin · 1944
Order of Kutuzov, 1st class · 1943
Order of Suvorov, 2nd class · 1943
Order of the Red Banner of Labour · 1939
Order of Lenin · 1935
Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
Jubilee Medal Medal "In Commemoration of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"
Medal "For the Defence of Stalingrad"
Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands"
Medal "For the Restoration of the Black Metallurgy Enterprises of the South"
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"
Medal "To a Partisan of the Patriotic War", 1st class
Miner's Glory 1st class
Order of Merit
Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania