Anastas Mikoyan

Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (Անաստաս Հովհաննեսի Միկոյան in Armenian; Анаста́с Ива́нович Микоя́н in Russian) (1895–1978) was an Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the Stalin and Khrushchev years.

Involvement in coup against Khrushchev

It is claimed by some that by 1964 he had become convinced that Khrushchev had turned into a liability for the Party, and he masterminded the November 1964 coup that brought Leonid Brezhnev to power. However, Taubman disputes this and Mikoyan was the only member of the Presidium (the name for the politboro at this time) to defend Khrushchev. Mikoyan, however, did vote to force Khrushchev's retirement (so as in traditional soviet style to make the vote unanimous). He was the only one of Khrushchev's colleagues to wish him well in his retirement though he never spoke to him again. It is possible to speculate that this was because it would have been politically unwise to do so or because his patience for Khrushchev had gone by then. Perhaps his decision to send flowers to his funeral in 1970, was due to guilt, some retained affection for Khrushchev or both.

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His influence was retained under Brezhnev, Mikoyan served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1964 until 1965 and then retired. He wrote his memoirs in 1970.

Related Topics:
Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet - 1964 - 1965 - 1970

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He died on October 21, 1978, at the age of 82 from natural causes.

Related Topics:
October 21 - 1978

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He was the brother of Artem Ivanovich Mikoyan, one of the designers of the MiG military aircraft.

Related Topics:
Artem Ivanovich Mikoyan - MiG

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