The chairman of the KGB was the head of the Committee for State Security (KGB), the main security agency of the Soviet Union in 1954–1991. He was assisted by one or two first deputy chairmen, and four to six deputy chairmen. He was also the head of the Collegium of the KGB—which consisted of the chairman, deputy chairmen, directorate chiefs, and one or two republic-level KGB organization chairmen—who affected key policy decisions.
| Chairman of the Committee for State Security | |
|---|---|
 Flag of the Chairman | |
| Committee for State Security | |
| Seat | Lubyanka Building, 2 Bolshaya Lubyanka Street, Moscow, Russian SFSR |
| Appointer | Premier |
| Precursor | Minister of State Security |
| Formation | 13 March 1954 |
| First holder | Ivan Serov |
| Final holder | Vadim Bakatin |
| Abolished | 3 December 1991[1] |
| Superseded by | Head of the Inter-republican Security Service |
| Deputy | First Deputy Chairman |
In 1934–1943 the Soviet State Security agency was part of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) as the Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB). The director of the GUGB was the first deputy of the People's Commissar of Interior.
List
edit| No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) |
Term of office | Premier | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||
| 1 | Chairman of the Cheka (1917–1922) | |||||
|
Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926) |
20 December 1917 | 7 July 1918 | 199 days |
| |
| 2 | 
|
Yakov Peters (1886–1938) |
7 July 1918 | 22 August 1918 | 46 days | |
| 1 |
|
Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926) |
22 August 1918 | 6 February 1922 | 3 years, 168 days | |
| Chairman of the GPU–OGPU (1922, 1923–1934) | ||||||
|
|
Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926) |
6 February 1922 | 20 July 1926 | 4 years, 164 days |
| |
| 3 | 
|
Vyacheslav Menzhinsky (1874–1934) |
30 July 1926 | 10 May 1934 | 7 years, 284 days |
|
| 4 | Main Directorate of State Security of People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (1934–1941) | |||||
|
Genrikh Yagoda (1891–1936) |
10 July 1934 | 26 September 1936 | 2 years, 78 days |
| |
| 5 | 
|
Yakov Agranov (1893–1938) |
29 December 1936 | 15 April 1937 | 107 days | |
| 6 | 
|
Mikhail Frinovsky (1898–1940) |
15 April 1937 | 28 March 1938 | 347 days | |
| 7 | 
|
Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953) |
29 September 1938 | 17 December 1938 | 79 days | |
| 8 | 
|
Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953) |
17 December 1938 | 3 February 1941 | 2 years, 48 days | |
| People's Commissar for State Security (1941) | ||||||
|
|
Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953) |
3 February 1941 | 20 July 1941 | 167 days |
| |
| Main Directorate of State Security of People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (1941–1943) | ||||||
|
|
Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953) |
20 July 1941 | 14 April 1943 | 1 year, 268 days |
| |
| People's Commissar for State Security (1943–1946) | ||||||
|
|
Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953) |
14 April 1943 | 15 March 1946 | 2 years, 335 days |
| |
| Ministry of State Security (1946–1954) | ||||||
|
|
Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953) |
15 March 1946 | 18 March 1946 | 3 days |
| |
| 9 | 
|
Viktor Abakumov (1908–1954) |
18 March 1946 | 14 July 1951 | 5 years, 118 days | |
| — | Sergei Ogoltsov (1900–1976) Acting |
14 July 1951 | 9 August 1951 | 26 days | ||
| 10 | Semyon Ignatiev (1904–1983) |
9 August 1951 | 5 March 1953 | 1 year, 208 days | ||
| 7 |
|
Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953) |
5 March 1953 | 26 June 1953 | 113 days |
|
| 11 | 
|
Sergei Kruglov (1907–1977) |
June 1953 | 13 March 1954 | 9 months | |
| 12 | Chairman of the Committee for State Security (1954–1991) | |||||
|
Ivan Serov (1905–1990) |
13 March 1954 | 8 December 1958 | 4 years, 270 days |
| |
| 13 | 
|
Alexander Shelepin (1918–1994) |
25 December 1958 | 13 November 1961 | 2 years, 323 days |
|
| 14 | 
|
Vladimir Semichastny (1924–2001) |
13 November 1961 | 18 May 1967 | 5 years, 186 days |
|
| 15 | 
|
Yuri Andropov (1914–1984) |
18 May 1967 | 26 May 1982 | 15 years, 8 days |
|
| 16 | Vitaly Fedorchuk (1918–2008) |
26 May 1982 | 17 December 1982 | 205 days |
| |
| 17 | Viktor Chebrikov (1923–1999) |
17 December 1982 | 1 October 1988 | 5 years, 289 days |
| |
| 18 | 
|
Vladimir Kryuchkov (1924–2007) |
1 October 1988 | 28 August 1991 | 2 years, 331 days |
|
| — | Leonid Shebarshin (1935–2012) Acting |
22 August 1991 | 23 August 1991 | 1 day | ||
| 19 | 
|
Vadim Bakatin (1937–2022) |
29 August 1991 | 3 December 1991 | 96 days |
|
Timeline
edit
See also
editCitations
editSources
edit- Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Gardners Books (2000), ISBN 0-14-028487-7 Basic Books (1999), hardcover, ISBN 0-465-00310-9; trade paperback (September, 2000), ISBN 0-465-00312-5
- John Barron, "KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents",Reader's Digest Press (1974), ISBN 0-88349-009-9
- Vasili Mitrokhin and Christopher Andrew, The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, Basic Books (2005) hardcover, 677 pages ISBN 0-465-00311-7
Further reading
edit- Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia – Past, Present, and Future. Farrar Straus Giroux (1994) ISBN 0-374-52738-5.
- John Barron. KGB: The Secret Works Of Soviet Secret Agents. Bantam Books (1981) ISBN 0-553-23275-4
- Vadim J. Birstein. The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science. Westview Press (2004) ISBN 0-8133-4280-5 (describes a secret KGB lab engaged in development and testing of poisons)
- John Dziak, Chekisty: A History of the KGB, Lexington Books (1988) ISBN 978-0-669-10258-1
- Sheymov, Victor (1993). Tower of Secrets. Naval Institute Press. pp. 420. ISBN 1-55750-764-3.
- Бережков, Василий Иванович (2004). Руководители Ленинградского управления КГБ : 1954–1991. Санкт-Петербург: Выбор, 2004. ISBN 5-93518-035-9 (in Russian)
External links
edit- KGB Information Center from FAS.org
- Chebrikov, Viktor M., et al., eds. Istoriya sovetskikh organov gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti. (1977) [1]
- Slaves of KGB. 20th Century. The religion of betrayal (Russian) - book by Yuri Shchekochikhin