Petro Shelest

Petro Shelest Петро Шелест
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine
In office 23 June 1963 – 19 May 1972
Preceded by	Nikolai Podgorny
Succeeded by	Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
In office 19 May 1972 – 7 May 1973
Premier	Alexei Kosygin
Full member of the 22nd, 23rd, 24th Politburo
In office 16 November 1964 – 27 April 1973
Personal details
Born	Petro Yukhymovych Shelest 14 February 1908 Andriivtsi, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died	22 January 1996 (aged 87) Moscow Oblast, Russia
Nationality	Soviet Ukrainian
Political party	Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union)
Signature

Petro Yukhymovych Shelest (Ukrainian: Петро Юхимович Шелест; Russian: Пётр Ефи́мович Ше́лест) (February 14, 1908 – January 22, 1996) was the First Secretary of the Communist party in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR.

Petro Shelest was born in a peasant Ukrainian family in a village near Kharkiv in 1908. In 1928 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in 1935 graduated from Mariupol' Metallurgical Institute.

Between 1943 and 1954 Shelest was a chief manager of several large factories in Leningrad and Kiev. Between 1954 and 1962 he was the Mayor of Kiev in addition to becoming the secretary of the Ukrainian Communist party. Soon he was promoted to the top position of first secretary of the Communist party of Ukrainian SSR and led it between 1963 and 1972. During his tenure and due to his cautious encouragement, there was a brief yet noticeable resurgence of the Ukrainian regional culture. In 1972 he became deputy chairman of the Sovmin (USSR Council of Ministers). Awarded Hero of Socialist Labor honorary title in 1968. In 1973 Petro Shelest was forced into retirement by Leonid Brezhnev.

References

• Shapoval, Yuri. "Petro Shelest, 100th anniversary of the birth of one of Ukraine’s most spectacular political figure". Den'. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
• Nahaylo, Bohdan (3 July 1988). ""National deviationist" Petro Shelest reappears after 15 years as non-person". The Ukrainian Weekly. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
• Nahaylo, Bohdan (26 January 1996). "Petro Y. Shelest, 87, Ukraine Party Chief Ousted as 'Localist'". Reuters. The New York Times. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
• Kuzio, Taras (20 January 2011). "Nation must break vicious cycle". Kyiv Post. Retrieved 27 April 2011.