From Khabarovsk party boss to Chairman of the Soviet of the Union: the institutional face of federal legislation in the Brezhnev era
When Khabarovsk Krai was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1965, Shitikov declared: 'We regard this as an expression of the great attention the Central Committee and the Soviet government have shown to us, the people of the Far East.'
A Soviet party and state leader born into a peasant family in Kostroma who began his career as a livestock specialist. Over 25 years in the Khabarovsk Krai party apparatus (including postings as secretary in Kamchatka and first secretary of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast) he became First Secretary of the Khabarovsk Krai Committee in 1957 and drove urban infrastructure and industrial development for 13 years. Elected Chairman of the Soviet of the Union in 1970, he served an unprecedented 14 years as the institutional anchor of federal legislation in the Brezhnev era, while also chairing the Soviet Committee for European Security and Cooperation during the Helsinki process.
Career Timeline
- 1936–1939Livestock specialist → First Secretary, Ardatov District Komsomol Committee
- 1941–1945Red Army service (major)
- 1945–1952Khabarovsk Krai Committee apparatus → Secretary, Kamchatka Oblast Committee
- 1952–1955First Secretary, Jewish Autonomous Oblast Committee
- 1955–1957Secretary → Second Secretary, Khabarovsk Krai Committee
- 1957–1970First Secretary, Khabarovsk Krai Committee of the CPSU
- 1970–1984Chairman of the Soviet of the Union, Supreme Soviet of the USSR
- 1984–1991Chairman, Presidium of the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Compatriots Abroad
Related historical events
Industrialization and Urban Development of Khabarovsk Krai (1957–1970)
Aleksei Shitikov was elected First Secretary of the Khabarovsk Krai Committee in February 1957 and led the party and economy of the Soviet Far East for thirteen years until 1970. Under his tenure, Khabarovsk gained its first centralized sewerage system and residential gas supply, while tram lines were expanded and trolleybus service was introduced. New industrial facilities included the heating equipment plant and the 'Zarya' furniture factory (1958), the 'Sputnik' confectionery factory (1962), and the 'Amurkabel' cable plant, which began production in 1965. The krai fulfilled its seven-year plan (1959–1965) industrial output targets ahead of schedule in November 1965 and was awarded the Order of Lenin that same year. Electric power generation in the krai grew 2.7-fold during the seven-year plan, and a unique power-line crossing was built across the Amur River on 150-meter towers. In Komsomolsk-on-Amur, 43 industrial enterprises opened, and the new towns of Amursk and Solnechny were founded. Shitikov documented the krai's achievements in his 1967 book Our Decorated Khabarovsk Krai.