Leonid Kostandov

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Leonid Kostandov
Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union
In office
February 1980 – 5 September 1984
PremierNikolai Ryzhkov
Minister of the Chemical Industry
In office
October 1965 – 1980
Personal details
Born
Leonid Arkadevich Kostandov

(1915-11-27)27 November 1915
Kerki, Turkmenistan, Russian Empire
Died5 September 1984(1984-09-05) (aged 68)
Leipzig, East Germany
Resting placeKremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow, Soviet Union
NationalityRussian
Political partyCommunist Party
Alma materMoscow Institute of Chemical Engineering

Leonid Kostandov (Russian: Леонид Костандов; 27 November 1915 – 5 September 1984) was a Soviet engineer and politician who served as the minister of the chemical industry between 1965 and 1980 and as the deputy premier from 1980 to his death.

Biography[edit]

Kostandov's grave sign in Kremlin Wall Necropolis next to that of Dmitriy Ustinov

Being a native of Kerki, Turkmenistan, Kostandov was born on 27 November 1915 into an ethnic Armenian family.[1][2] He started his career in a local cotton gin, and then he worked in a silk-weaving mill in 1930.[1][2] He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering in 1940.[2] He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1942.[2] Following his graduation he began to work as a manager in a chemical plant in Chirchik.[1] In 1951 he was awarded a Stalin Prize.[1] He was appointed to the central administration of the chemical industry in Moscow in 1953.[1] He was named as the minister of the chemical industry in October 1965[2] and remained in the post in 1980.[1] The same year he was appointed deputy prime minister responsible for chemical and related industries.[1]

Kostandov died of a heart attack on 5 September 1984 while he was visiting a fair in Leipzig, East Germany.[1][3] He was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis after the official funeral ceremony held in Red Square, Moscow.[3][4]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Leonid Kostandov, 68; Soviet Deputy Premier". The New York Times. Reuters. 6 September 1984. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Leonid Kostandov". Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 1979. Archived from the original on 17 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Deputy Premier Leonid Kostandov died Wednesday of a heart attack". United Press International. Moscow. 5 September 1984. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  4. ^ Philip Hanson (2010). "The Soviet Union's acquisition of Western technology after Stalin: Some thoughts on people". In Sari Autio-Sarasmo; Katalin Miklóssy (eds.). Reassessing Cold War Europe. London; New York: Routledge. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-136-89835-8.