Party propagandist who headed the Central Committee Propaganda Department early in perestroika
Born in Kursk in 1925, he was conscripted in 1943, fought in anti-tank artillery and took part in the 1945 Victory Parade. He joined the Communist Party in 1944. After graduating from the history faculty of Kharkiv State University in 1951 he taught there and worked in the lecturers' groups of the Kharkiv city and regional party committees, and in 1964–1969 he was a secretary of the Kharkiv regional committee. He became deputy head of the Central Committee Propaganda Department in 1969, first deputy editor of Pravda in 1976 and editor of the journal Problems of Peace and Socialism in 1982, and headed the Central Committee Propaganda Department from July 1986 to November 1988.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1943.02–1945Anti-tank artilleryman in the Red Army, senior sergeant
- 1964–1969Secretary of the Kharkiv Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
- 1969.10–1976.05Deputy head of the CPSU CC Propaganda Department
- 1976.05–1982.05First deputy editor-in-chief of Pravda
- 1982.05–1986Editor of the journal Problems of Peace and Socialism
- 1981–1989Candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee
- 1986.07–1988.11Head of the CPSU CC Propaganda Department