Statesman.
Prime Minister in a joint leadership with Brezhnev and Nikolay Podgorny. His liberal economic reforms faced firm resistance and gradually all his power shifted in the hands of Brezhnev.
Background
Lived: 1904-1980.
Kosygin was born in St. Petersburg. He earned his living working in textile mills and factories.
He made his way from the managing director of a textile factory to the Mayor of Leningrad by 1938.
Career
Kosygin was respected for being a stable and reliable politician in the Communist party and was elected member of the Politburo. He served as Stalin’s Minister of Finance and Minister of Light Industry from 1948-53. After Stalin’s death he became an expert on economic planning.
Brezhnev-Kosygin leadership
Khrushchev was deposed in 1964 after the failure at the Cuban Missile crisis. His power was replaced by a collective leadership of three party members:
Alexey Kosygin as Prime Minister (1964-80)
Leonid Brezhnev as General Secretary
Nikolay Podgorny as President
Kosygin was the most liberal of them and he soon introduced a series of economic reforms. He tried to decentralize industry and agriculture. He also planned to reduce the role of military and heavy industry in favour of light industry and the production of consumer goods.
Fall from power
The collective leadership began to crack very soon and power began shifting to Leonid Brezhnev. Kosygin’s health was deteriorating and he was frequently hospitalized. He resigned in 1980 and died shortly thereafter.
Alexey Kosygin
Statesman.
Prime Minister in a joint leadership with Brezhnev and Nikolay Podgorny. His liberal economic reforms faced firm resistance and gradually all his power shifted in the hands of Brezhnev.
Background
Lived: 1904-1980.
Kosygin was born in St. Petersburg. He earned his living working in textile mills and factories.
He made his way from the managing director of a textile factory to the Mayor of Leningrad by 1938.
Career
Kosygin was respected for being a stable and reliable politician in the Communist party and was elected member of the Politburo. He served as Stalin’s Minister of Finance and Minister of Light Industry from 1948-53. After Stalin’s death he became an expert on economic planning.
Brezhnev-Kosygin leadership
Khrushchev was deposed in 1964 after the failure at the Cuban Missile crisis. His power was replaced by a collective leadership of three party members:
Alexey Kosygin as Prime Minister (1964-80)
Leonid Brezhnev as General Secretary
Nikolay Podgorny as President
Kosygin was the most liberal of them and he soon introduced a series of economic reforms. He tried to decentralize industry and agriculture. He also planned to reduce the role of military and heavy industry in favour of light industry and the production of consumer goods.
Fall from power
The collective leadership began to crack very soon and power began shifting to Leonid Brezhnev. Kosygin’s health was deteriorating and he was frequently hospitalized. He resigned in 1980 and died shortly thereafter.
Mikhail Suslov