Nikita Khrushchev Никита Хрущёв | |
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![]() Khrushchev in East Berlin during a visit to East Germany in 1963 | |
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union | |
In office September 14, 1953 – October 14, 1964 | |
President | Kliment Voroshilov Leonid Brezhnev Anastas Mikoyan |
Premier | Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin Himself |
Preceded by | Joseph Stalin |
Succeeded by | Leonid Brezhnev |
Premier of the Soviet Union | |
In office March 27, 1958 – October 14, 1964 | |
President | Kliment Voroshilov Leonid Brezhnev Anastas Mikoyan |
First Deputies | Frol Kozlov Alexei Kosygin Dmitriy Ustinov Lazar Kaganovich Anastas Mikoyan |
Preceded by | Nikolai Bulganin |
Succeeded by | Alexei Kosygin |
Personal details | |
Born | Kalinovka, Dmitriyevsky Uyezd, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire | 15 April 1894
Died | September 11, 1971 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | (aged 77)
Nationality | Soviet |
Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Spouse(s) | Yefrosinia Khrushcheva (1916–1919, died) Marusia Khrushcheva (1922, separated) Nina Khrushcheva (1923–1971, survived as widow) |
Signature | ![]() |
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev[1] (15 April 1894[2] – 11 September 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. He ruled from 1953 to 1964 when Leonid Brezhnev, a Red Army Major General and President of the Soviet Union from 1960 to 1964 (during Khrushchev's own rule) came to power in 1964 after a bloodless palace coup against Khrushchev, just 11 years after Stalin died.
He supported the Soviet space program and was the leader when Yuri Gagarin flew into space and became the first man to leave Earth in April 1961. Khrushchev was also the leader who ordered the Berlin Wall to be built in the East Berlin half of the former Nazi capital city Berlin. The wall separated it from West Berlin in August 1961 until the end of the Cold War .