Crimean campaigns of Russian troops in 1680. Crimean campaigns

Mikhail Andreevich Suslov(November 8, 1902, Saratov province - January 25, 1982, Moscow) - Soviet party and statesman. Member of the Politburo (Presidium) of the CPSU Central Committee (1952-53, 1955-82), Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1947-82).

The peak of M. A. Suslov’s career came during the time of Brezhnev, although he was already an influential figure under Stalin and Khrushchev. He was the ideologist of the party, and he was sometimes called the “gray eminence” of the Soviet system and “Pobedonostsev Soviet Union».

Biography

Born into a peasant family in the village of Shakhovskoye, Khvalynsky district, Saratov province, now Pavlovsky district, Ulyanovsk region.

In 1918, Suslov joined the ranks of the rural Committee of the Poor, in February 1920 - the Komsomol, and in 1921 - the ranks of the RCP (b). With a Komsomol permit, he was sent to study at the Prechistensky Workers' Faculty located in Moscow, after which he entered the Moscow Institute in 1924 national economy them. G.V. Plekhanov, who graduated in 1928. In 1929 he entered graduate school at the Institute of Economics of the Communist Academy. Simultaneously with his postgraduate studies, which he completed in 1931, he taught political economy at Moscow State University and Industrial Academy.

In 1931, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was transferred to the apparatus of the Central Control Commission of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (TsKK - RKI), and in 1934 - to the Commission of Soviet Control under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (SNK USSR).

In 1936 Suslov became a listener Economic Institute Red professorship, upon completion of his studies in which in 1937 he was appointed to the position of head of the department of the Rostov Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. The conductor of Stalin's terror.

From February 1939 to November 1944 - First Secretary of the Ordzhonikidze (Stavropol) regional committee of the CPSU (b) (the latter was called Ordzhonikidze until 1943).

Organizer partisan movement during the occupation Stavropol Territory.

In 1941-1943 he was a member of the Military Council of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front.

On November 14, 1944, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was appointed to the post of Chairman of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks for the Lithuanian SSR with emergency powers. The bureau was authorized to carry out work to eliminate the consequences of the war and combat numerous detachments " forest brothers».

On March 18, 1946, Suslov was transferred to the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and on April 13, he was appointed to the post of head of the department of foreign policy (external relations) of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, and on May 22, 1947, he was appointed secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

From June 16 to June 25, 1947, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was present at the philosophical discussion, after which on September 17, 1947 he was appointed to the post of head of the Directorate of Propaganda and Agitation of the CPSU Central Committee instead of Georgy Fedorovich Alexandrov (appointed to the post of director of the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences) and held this position until July 1948, and then from July 1949 until October 1952.

In 1948, he became one of the inspirers and then the leader of the campaign against cosmopolitanism. He bore personal responsibility for the campaign of struggle “against rootless cosmopolitanism”, “bourgeois sycophancy to the West”, etc.

From 1949 to 1950 he worked as editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pravda.

On October 16, 1952, Suslov was elected a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, but after the death of I.V. Stalin on March 5, 1953, he was removed from its membership and on April 16 he was again appointed to the post of head of the foreign policy department (external relations) of the CPSU Central Committee.

According to Zhores Medvedev in his work “Stalin’s Secret Heir,” Stalin saw Suslov as the future ideologist of the party, Medvedev writes: “...The senior ideologist, like Stalin, was preparing to give up his place to the younger one when he realized that his own time was coming to an end,” and even calls Suslov “the secret General Secretary of the CPSU.”

Chekhovsky Belikov was a man in a case, Mikhail Suslov - in rubber galoshes

The main ideologist of the era of stagnation often wore galoshes even in clear weather. In general, many who encountered him considered him very strange, and his behavior was simply ridiculous. In the summer, he drove in a car with the windows rolled up and forbade turning on the ventilation. Suslov suffered from tuberculosis in his youth and was afraid of a recurrence of the disease and a cold. Therefore, in the heat, he wore a raincoat, hat, and galoshes. He was probably the last Moscow resident to continue wearing them. Suslov walked around in an old coat and once Brezhnev, jokingly, invited members of the Politburo to chip in ten and buy Mikhail Andreevich a new coat. After this, Suslov urgently purchased a new coat, but wore galoshes until his death.

His political views raise many questions. He, in fact, was an ardent Stalinist and did not condemn the cult of personality. On the other hand, after the elimination of Khrushchev, he strongly resisted the attempts of Shelepin and his group to rehabilitate Stalin.

It was possible to use it to check the most accurate clocks in the world, since he came to work at 8:59 a.m. and left work at 5:59 p.m. Molotov called him a provincial in politics, a big bore.

Someone quite aptly said about Suslov: “Richelieu at the court of the Secretary General.” He was the absolute record holder of the CPSU for the length of time he served as Secretary of the Central Committee - 35 years (1947-1982). According to some historians, for example Nikolai Zenkovich, from his experience, knowledge, general culture was head and shoulders above other secretaries of the Central Committee. Last representative Stalinist school, its heir and successor in style and methods of work.

Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was born in 1902 in the village of Shakhovskoye, Khvalynsky district, Saratov province (now Pavlovsky district, Ulyanovsk region) into a poor peasant family. He began his career by working in the village committee of the poor and in the Khvalynsky district Komsomol committee. He was a capable man. Moreover, he stood out against the background of illiterate young villagers. In addition, he loved to study and did a lot of self-education.

Since 1921, Mikhail has been in Moscow. Here he studies. First he entered the workers' school, which he graduated in 1924. Then he was a student at the Plekhanov Moscow Institute of National Economy, which he successfully graduated in 1928. As a student, at the same time he taught at the Moscow Chemical College and Textile College. Since 1929, he taught political economy at Moscow University and at the Industrial Academy, where N. S. Khrushchev and Stalin’s wife N. S. Alliluyeva studied.

In the spring of 1931, by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Suslov was sent to the apparatus of the Central Control Commission-RKI (United Party and State Body - Central Control Commission - Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate). As an inspector of the Central Control Commission, he participates in the work of commissions to clean up the party in the Ural and Chernigov regions. For two years he worked in the Commission of Soviet Control under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

In 1936-1937 studied at the graduate school of the Economic Institute of the Red Professorship. He took his studies very seriously. “Stormed” Marx, Engels, Lenin. He carefully studied the works and speeches of Secretary General Stalin. Didn't particularly stand out. He behaved quite modestly. However, he was known for keeping in his home a complete card index of Lenin’s statements on economic issues. His tiny room in a communal apartment was filled with boxes of cards, quotes, alphabets, every word of Lenin on economic issues was taken into account and recorded. He was such a neat, pedantic archivist, he sat at home and kept a file cabinet. Unsociable, unsociable, didn’t get involved in anything, that’s why he survived.

Once, Stalin urgently needed Lenin’s judgment on one narrow economic issue. The efficient secretary Mehlis remembered Suslov, his classmate in the IKP. I rushed to him, he instantly found what he needed. Stalin asked how he managed to find the quote so quickly. Mehlis spoke about Suslov. This was the beginning of the rise of Mikhail Andreevich, who eventually became a member of the Politburo. This version of Suslov’s career was known in Moscow at that time (see A. Rybakov. Roman-memoir. M.: 1997). Quotes from Marx and Lenin were his powerful weapons in the struggle for his “place in the sun.” Mikhail Andreevich made his career primarily by exposing Trotskyism, and later - the oppositionists Kamenev and Zinoviev, the “right deviation” Bukharin and Rykov. He was an adherent of Stalin's policies. Suslov always knew how to perform in the right place at the right time.

In 1937, Suslov was transferred to Rostov. Here he is the head of the department, secretary, second secretary of the Rostov Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. From 1939 to 1944 - first secretary of the Ordzhonikidze (Stavropol) regional party committee. When Suslov began working in Stavropol, the time for “rehabilitation” had just arrived. Yezhov was deposed and some of those arrested were released. Suslov, in a slightly changed situation, took some steps in the region to eliminate mistakes, or rather crimes associated with mass repressions. But there were still party workers who could not imagine themselves outside the " great terror"The Kaganovichi district party conference, on the initiative of the district committee secretary, adopted a decision declaring all regional committee bureaus headed by Suslov “enemies of the people.” But they were quickly explained who was now the boss in the region.

When the Patriotic War began, Mikhail Andreevich was appointed a member of the Military Council of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front. Since 1942 - chief of staff of the region's partisan detachments. After the liberation of the region from the German occupiers, he led the purge and arrests of the accomplices of the German occupiers. However, people were often classified as accomplices only because they did not join partisan detachments. Participated in the deportation of Karachais.

At the end of 1944 Suslov was in Vilnius. Here he is in the role of chairman of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks for the Lithuanian SSR. Under his leadership, the deportation of all “unreliable” people is carried out. Justice requires noting that Suslov, at a meeting of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, tried to emphasize specific features Lithuania, which should have influenced the adoption of a more lenient decision. However, he was pulled back and not even allowed to finish his speech. And Suslov obediently complied with the decision of the Organizing Bureau and did not make such attempts again.

Since March 1946, Suslov has been working in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. Since 1947 - Secretary of the Central Committee.

On November 26, 1946, Suslov sent a note to Stalin containing accusations against the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee. The note served as the basis for an investigation by the Ministry of State Security. As a result, 140 people were convicted in this case, including 23 to the highest degree punishment, 20 people - to 25 years in prison (see Nikolai Zenkovich. Elite. The most closed people. M.: Olma-Press, 2004).

As Secretary of the Central Committee, in 1948-1949. at the same time - head of the department of external relations of the Central Committee, in 1949-1951. - editor-in-chief newspaper "Pravda". At the last during Stalin's life XIX Congress party was introduced to the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Some historians, such as Roy Medvedev, argue that Stalin was preparing Suslov as his heir. However, this version has not been confirmed by anything. Stalin could not and did not even want to think that there could be someone else in his place.

After Stalin's death, he actively supported Nikita Khrushchev. During the attempt to remove him in June 1957, he was among the four members of the Presidium of the Central Committee who voted against the release of Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. He made an introductory report at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on disagreements in the Presidium of the Central Committee. This report immediately set the desired tone for the plenum. Focusing the attention of party functionaries in every possible way on the anti-party sins of Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich, Suslov spoke in a favorable light about Khrushchev, who was carrying out “enormous, intense work as First Secretary of the Central Committee.” He chaired the meetings of this Plenum (June 22-29, 1957). He was one of the most influential figures during the reign of Nikita Sergeevich. He was then the main advocate of the purity of Marxism-Leninism. Khrushchev did not understand questions of theory at all and treated Mikhail Andreevich with respect, considered him a major theorist, a great specialist in the field of culture and social sciences.

During the events in Hungary in 1956, he went to Budapest and, after unsuccessful negotiations with the then leadership of that country, insisted on the decision to send Soviet troops into Hungary to suppress the anti-communist uprising.

Suslov actively participated in the preparation new Program CPSU, which was adopted by the XXII Party Congress. And although he perfectly saw the absurdity and even ridiculousness of many of its points, Khrushchev insisted on them, and they were included. Nikita Sergeevich intended to build communism in the USSR in 20 years.

Suslov chaired the meeting of the October (1964) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, which removed Khrushchev from all posts. At this Plenum he made a report “On the abnormal situation that has developed in the Presidium of the Central Committee in connection with the incorrect actions of N. S. Khrushchev.” Under Brezhnev, he was the number 2 man in the party and country. In the last 17 years of his life, Suslov became the main ideologist of the party. As a member of the Politburo, secretary of the Central Committee in charge of ideological issues, Mikhail Andreevich stood at the top of a pyramid built from many ideological institutions. In the CPSU Central Committee, he supervised the activities of the departments of propaganda, culture, information, science and educational institutions, as well as two international departments.

Mikhail Andreevich supervised the Main Political Directorate Soviet army and the Navy. Under his leadership and control worked the Ministries of Education and Culture, State Television and Radio, State Committees for Cinematography, Publishing Houses, censorship, TASS, creative unions of writers, artists, composers, the Knowledge Society - and this is far from full list of what was part of the “empire”, the owner of which was Suslov. Suslov was a dogmatist, but he knew the theory of Marxism well. Received the nickname "gray cardinal". Among the party bosses he stood out for his asceticism. After trips abroad, he handed over the remaining currency to the party cash desk. I drove at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. Was not a poser. In all his manners he resembled a teacher from a pre-revolutionary gymnasium. Never accepted any gifts or offerings. According to A. N Yakovlev, “he once saw on TV that after a hockey match the winning team was given a TV as a reward. The next day the director of the television plant was fired from his job. Suslov asked: “Did he give away his own TV?” "And that's all."

He always conducted meetings of the Secretariat of the Central Committee clearly and concisely. Former newspaper editor-in-chief Soviet Russia"M. Nenashev said that only an emergency could cause the secretariat to last more than an hour. "Speeches are 5-7 minutes. I couldn’t keep up - Suslov said “Thank you,” and the embarrassed speaker rolled up his notes.

Most of the decisions at the meetings of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee, which he chaired, were made independently, without consulting anyone. It also happened that he was told that a different solution had been agreed upon with Brezhnev. He waved it off: “I’ll agree.” Brezhnev trusted Suslov because he was sure that he did not pretend to take his place. V. Boldin, former head. department of the Central Committee believed that, in essence, the party was placed under his subordination, since “the Secretariat ruled the roost.” And even on vacation, when Kirilenko replaced Suslov, the vigilant “gray eminence” monitored every decision and, upon returning, recalled some of them if they disagreed with the opinion of Suslov and his entourage. Mikhail Andreevich had a magical influence on Brezhnev and often, despite decisions taken Secretary General, could persuade Leonid Ilyich to abandon them and do as Suslov advised. This made him omnipotent (see V. Boldin. The Collapse of the Pedestal. M.: 1995).

On January 22, 1969, an attempt was made on Brezhnev’s life at the Borovitsky Gate of the Kremlin. On this day, the capital welcomed the “cosmic four” - cosmonauts Volynov, Shatalov, Eliseev and Khrunov who returned from their flight. Soviet Army junior lieutenant Viktor Ilyin shot at the government motorcade. Dressed in a police uniform, which he stole from a relative, the terrorist quietly formed a cordon near the Kremlin. Ilyin mistakenly believed that Brezhnev was in the second car and opened fire on it. When the security officers grabbed him, he had already emptied both clips. The driver was mortally wounded, and cosmonaut Beregovoy was slightly wounded.

After his arrest, Ilyin was interrogated by KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov himself. A tape recording of this interrogation has been preserved.

Andropov asks Ilyin:

Why did you decide that you are the chief judge and you have to decide the issue with a pistol in your hands?

A person should live, not exist,” answers Ilyin.

What does it mean to live? - the chief security officer asks.

People live now and adapt as best they can. Whoever can, drags there, even down to the cogs and bolts. Some kind of negative process is going on in society.

Maybe this is all true, but the means you have chosen do not seem to solve these very problems,” Andropov objected.

Kill Secretary General, - explains Ilyin, - this means that a new person must take his place.

So who do you think should be?

The most decent person, I think, is Suslov.

Why do you prefer Suslov?

Because people consider Suslov the most outstanding personality in the party at the moment.

It is not entirely clear why Ilyin mentioned Suslov’s last name. Perhaps he really considered Suslov the most suitable figure for the role of leader of the CPSU. Or perhaps, annoyed by the failure (he killed the driver instead of Brezhnev), Ilyin decided to quarrel among the inhabitants of the Kremlin. The terrorist was not shot. He was put in a “psychiatric hospital”, where he spent 20 years (see A. Maisuryan. The Other Brezhnev. M.: Vagrius, 2004).

This episode did not affect Brezhnev's attitude towards Suslov. Leonid Ilyich was firmly convinced: the “gray eminence” was not rushing to take his place, he was quite happy with his place - number 2.

However, Brezhnev reminded Suslov from time to time that he was still the master of the country and the second secretary should not exceed his powers. Suslov had a dream - to turn GUM into an exhibition hall. And he tried to do this while the Secretary General was on vacation. The former manager of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Mikhail Smirtyukov, said:

Suslov spoke at the Politburo that it would be inappropriate to have a market place next to the Mausoleum. Everyone agreed. The decision was formalized and Brezhnev was immediately informed. When he returned from vacation, before the first meeting of the Politburo he said: “Some fool here came up with the idea of ​​closing GUM and opening some kind of cabinet of curiosities there.” Settled down. He asks: “Well, has the GUM issue been resolved?” Everyone, including Suslov, nodded their heads. The problem was closed once and for all without discussion.

Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was next to Brezhnev throughout the years of Leonid Ilyich’s stay in power, as his reliable support in matters of ideology and relations with foreign communist parties. A. Aleksandrov-Agentov, a former assistant to the Secretary General, noted that “... Brezhnev always needed such support. Brezhnev trusted Suslov’s judgments in these areas unconditionally. Leonid Ilyich once told me: “If Misha read the text and said, that everything is in order, then I am absolutely calm." The only question is in what direction his advice went.

And although it's clean on a personal level Brezhnev and Suslov were never close friends - they were people too different by nature - Leonid Ilyich treated Suslov with respect and trust.

Every morning, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov arrived at the 2nd entrance of the Central Committee with punctual precision a few minutes before 9 o’clock. The Central Committee's external security officers stopped the flow of pedestrians while the skinny figure of a Politburo member crossed the sidewalk and disappeared behind the black door. Suslov refused, like all the top leaders of the party, to enter the safe courtyard of the Central Committee to the secretarial entrance. It seems that by taking a few steps along the “common” sidewalk for everyone, Suslov believed that by doing this he was showing his “democracy” and desire to be closer to the people. Of course, Suslov was a dogmatist and a conservative. He considered himself the guardian of the purity of Marxism-Leninism. In reality, like his galoshes, he became a relic of a bygone era, nevertheless being one of the most influential people in the Soviet state. The most important principle that guided him was “Keep out.” As Dmitry Volkogonov accurately noted: “Suslov had a pronounced “barrier” mindset: do not let in, do not allow, do not allow, do not indulge.”

It's his fault soviet people Many talented works of literature and art were not seen. It was he who banned the screening of films directed by German, Klimov, Tarkovsky and others. He also banned the publication of the novels “Life and Fate” by Grossman and “Not by Bread Alone” by Dudintsev.

In the summer of 1962, Suslov talked with Vasily Grossman about his novel Life and Fate. He told the writer: “I have not read your book, but I carefully read the reviews and reviews, which contain many quotes from your novel. It is hostile to the Soviet people, its publication will do harm. Your book is full of your doubts about the legitimacy of our Soviet system. It will be possible to be published in 200 years." But Suslov turned out to be a bad prophet. Published 28 years later, the novel was received with great interest by readers in the USSR and in many other countries.

The trial of Sinyavsky and Daniel, other secret trials, persecution of dissidents, a ban on the publication of many authors, the expulsion of some young writers from Moscow and Leningrad, the removal of Tvardovsky from the post of editor-in-chief of Novy Mir and many other similar actions - the “gray” was involved in all cardinal." On Suslov's instructions, the editorial office of Novy Mir, a magazine that then expressed the sentiments of the most progressive part of the Soviet creative intelligentsia, was essentially dispersed. At that time, already printed books were often put under the knife, in which Suslov and his apparatus found ideological flaws. When they told him what it does great damage publishers and even the state. Suslov said in such cases: “They don’t skimp on ideology.”

All major decisions about “dissidents” - from the expulsion of Solzhenitsyn, the exile of Sakharov to the arrests of activists of the “Helsinki groups” - were made with the participation of Suslov.

Mikhail Andreevich did not like everything that somehow rose above the general average level. He was extremely irritated by Vysotsky's songs and plays at the Taganka Theater. Suslov for a long time did not allow the films “Garage” by E. Ryazanov and “Kalina Krasnaya” by V. Shukshin to be released. He didn’t like the title of Ryazanov’s film “Man from Nowhere,” and for a long time he did not let it appear on the screen. Suslov interfered with the publication of Zhukov’s memoirs and demanded many corrections and additions. And he really wanted the marshal to mention Colonel Brezhnev in his memoirs as a participant in the battles on Malaya Zemlya.

Roy Medvedev rightly notes that at the same time, in ideological matters, Suslov was not only dogmatic, but often extremely petty and stubborn. For example, he decided where to create a Mayakovsky museum and “whom the poet loved more” - Lilya Brik, who was Jewish, or Tatyana Yakovleva, who lived in Paris (see Roy Medvedev. Stalin’s Inner Circle. M.: Eksmo, 2005) .

Suslov led a propaganda campaign against the State of Israel and Zionism. This propaganda has literally become global. At times even America was forgotten. Israel and the Zionists were portrayed almost as the main enemies of the Soviet Union. And this entire anti-Semitic campaign was led by Suslov. There is no doubt that he was an anti-Semite. However, Suslov ensured that “the rules of the game were followed.” I tried to prevent anti-Semitism from being too open, without a shadow of camouflage. In the magazine "October", which was edited by the writer Vsevolod Kochetov, an article appeared very similar to the publications of the Nazi Julius Streicher. This was clearly too much. Having received the report from the propaganda department, Suslov brought the issue to the Secretariat. In his heart, of course, he was on Kochetov’s side. But he violated established order. At first, Kochetov behaved quite brazenly at the secretariat. He said that the propaganda department of the Central Committee was very weak and that its personnel needed to be strengthened. Then he realized which way the wind was blowing and began to make excuses: “I wasn’t there when this number was signed.” However, Suslov did not accept the excuse and severely reprimanded Kochetov. Moreover, he warned that if this happens again, we will relieve him of his duties as editor-in-chief.

Anatoly Dobrynin was the ambassador of the Soviet Union to the United States for many years. In his memoirs, “Purely Confidential,” published in 1995, he writes that he never understood “why we did not allow the Jews to emigrate. What harm could this have brought to our country? On the contrary, there would have been no source of irritation.” Dobrynin emphasizes that such a line was defended by Suslov, whom he ironically calls a “principled ideologist.” Dobrynin told how, having once arrived in Moscow for a consultation, he learned about the introduction of an education tax for those leaving. At that time, Brezhnev and Gromyko were on vacation and resting in the south. Brezhnev was replaced by Suslov. He decided that in emigration policy this tax was quite good idea. When Gromyko returned, he realized what a stupid political move it was. Although the tax was gradually eliminated, the damage was done.

During the events in Czechoslovakia, the “Prague Spring” of 1968, at Suslov’s command, genuine hysteria began in the Soviet press and on television: supposedly it was not the USSR that threatened Czechoslovakia, but this small country with the support of the United States is about to attack the USSR. She supposedly poses a threat to the whole world.

On December 26, 1979, Suslov put his signature on the Politburo decision to introduce Soviet troops to Afghanistan.

Prominent Soviet diplomat O. Grinevsky noted that under the slogan of solidarity with the national liberation movement, Suslov and some other party leaders involved the Politburo in many adventures in the Third World, and the USSR paid exorbitantly for this high price. Huge funds were often simply thrown away. Mikhail Andreevich supported the nomination of the first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the CPSU M. Gorbachev to the post of secretary of the Central Committee. “Suslov, going on vacation, sometimes visited Stavropol. And one day, during his next visit, the local party leadership, including Gorbachev, invited and showed him... the museum of the life and work of Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. The elder gave in, was moved and repaid Gorbachev good" (see A. Gromyko. Andrei Gromyko in the labyrinths of the Kremlin. Memories and reflections of a son. M.: 1997).

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev wrote in his memoirs: “I knew Mikhail Andreevich for a long time, he had strong ties with Stavropol. By the way, conversations with Suslov were always short. He did not tolerate talkers, in a conversation he knew how to quickly grasp the essence of the matter. He did not like sentimentality , kept the interlocutor at a distance, treated everyone politely and officially, only on “you,” making exceptions for very few” (see M. Gorbachev. Life and Reforms. M.: 1995).

Although Suslov is often called a major theoretician, he did not enrich Marxism in any way. He did not write a single book, not even a single brochure. Perhaps the only thing he did was to propose replacing the term “developed socialism” built in the USSR with the term “real socialism.” Very often people said what kind of developed socialism is this when there is nothing. There are only empty shelves in stores and continuous problems. That's why Soviet society- This is underdeveloped socialism. Mikhail Andreevich took this into account and proposed the term “real socialism” instead.

In January 1982, Suslov was going to relax in a sanatorium. I felt good. Before traveling south, I decided to get tested at the Kuntsevo hospital. There he went for a walk. Suddenly I felt severe pain in the area of ​​the heart. He returned to the building. His daughter Maya was there. She urgently called doctors. However, he got worse and worse. Three days later, on January 25, 1982, he died. His closest ally Boris Ponomarev, former secretary of the Central Committee, considered his death very strange.

Alexander Yakovlev, Gorbachev’s comrade-in-arms during perestroika, wrote: “Suslov’s death was somehow very timely. He really interfered with Andropov, who was striving for power. Suslov did not like him and would never have allowed Andropov to be elected General Secretary. So, exclude him that they helped him die is impossible.” Mikhail Andreevich’s relatives were of the same opinion.

Evgeniy Chazov, director medical service Kremlin, knew Suslov well, his illness and believed that what happened could happen at any time.

In our opinion, the version that Suslov was “helped to die” has no basis; there is no evidence. And the fact that the death of the “gray eminence” benefited Andropov is a completely different story.

About 30 years have passed since Suslov's death. His portraits are not visible in modern Russia. And it’s mostly old people who remember him. But there are many portraits and supporters of Stalin. The Generalissimo is revered by many. And even among young people there are his fans. Suslov was an ardent Stalinist. But even he strongly opposed attempts to rehabilitate Stalin. He understood that this was a road to nowhere.

Weekly "Secret"

They called the main ideologist of the Soviet system. It was Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. The biography of this man is inextricably linked with the history of the most powerful and invincible power in the world - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

From father to son

The future party leader was born on November 21, 1902. Khvalynsky district, the village of Shakhovskoye is the birthplace of Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. The family of Andrei Andreevich, Mikhail's father, was very poor. Due to the lack of his own farm, M. A. Suslov’s father was forced to work part-time in the oil fields of Azerbaijan. Being an active and energetic person, Andrei Andreevich, in 1916, having assembled an artel of carpentry and carpentry craftsmen, moved to Arkhangelsk. His family followed him to the banks of the Northern Dvina. It was there, in northern Russia, that the Suslovs learned about the October Revolution and soon returned to their native village. Returning to his homeland, Mikhail Andreevich’s father joined the Bolshevik Party and subsequently was engaged in party and ideological work in the Khvalynsky district committee and city council. The further fate of M. A. Suslov’s father and family members is unknown. Unreliable sources of information report tragic events in the Suslov family. In 1920, after a typhus epidemic, two children died, and the party ideologist is silent in his biographical memoirs about what happened to the two surviving brothers and sisters. It is only known that M. A. Suslov’s mother lived to be ninety years old.

Komsomol activist

Following his father, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov joined social and political activities in 1918. His biography begins with the Committee of the Poor in the village of Shakhovskoye, where a sixteen-year-old teenager joins at the behest of his heart, having barely received primary education. After joining the Komsomol organization in 1920, the young man’s revolutionary activity became more noticeable. On his initiative, a rural Komsomol cell was created, which he soon headed. It was during this period that his organizational and ideological qualities were revealed. Report "About personal life member of the Komsomol", prepared for a meeting of Komsomol activists, revealed the dogmatic style of thinking of the young author. The lecturer, in an edifying manner, outlined to the young people present the rules of behavior and moral values ​​that a Komsomol member should observe. By decision of the meeting, this “moral code” was approved and recommended for distribution in other Komsomol cells.

Moving to Moscow

1921 becomes a turning point for a nineteen-year-old man. On the recommendation of the Komsomol organization, M. A. Suslov joined the ranks of the Communist Party, and soon, on a ticket from the local organization of members of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he went to Moscow to study at the Prechistensky Workers' Faculty. In 1924, M. A. Suslov entered the Institute of National Economy, now the Russian Economic University. Plekhanov, where he combines academic study with stormy political activity, being an active member of the party organization of the highest educational institution. The young man’s political activity and extraordinary abilities allow him to engage in teaching activities. As a student he teaches at the capital's technical school of the chemical industry. Having completed his studies at the capital’s university in 1928, Mikhail Andreevich continued his career growth at the newly created Moscow Economic Institute of Red Professors, which was intended to train new party intelligentsia. Subsequently, the “red professor” Mikhail Andreevich Suslov, whose biography in the 20s was closely connected with teaching, taught students the basics of political economy. Moscow University, Moscow Industrial Academy, Moscow Institute of Economy. G.V. Plekhanov - this is far from complete track record teaching activities young scientist.

It was during the period of teaching activity of M. A. Suslov in 1929-1930 at the Industrial Academy that he met the secretary of the party committee of this higher educational institution N. S. Khrushchev and I. (Stalin’s) wife Nadezhda Alliluyeva, who two years later would commit suicide at unclear circumstances. However, there was no close acquaintance with the future party leader of the Soviet Union, N. S. Khrushchev. This will happen later, at the end of the 40s, when Mikhail Andreevich Suslov entered the elite of the country's party nomenklatura.

Mikhail Andreevich Suslov: biography of the 30s

In the spring of 1931, M. A. Suslov was transferred to Control Commission under the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspectorate, abbreviated as TsKK-RKI, where it examines the personal affairs of members of the Bolshevik Party, monitors violations of party discipline of its colleagues, and also files appeals against their expulsion from members of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. It should be noted that he coped with his duties perfectly, causing fear in the party nomenklatura. The efforts of the vigilant communist did not go unnoticed, and soon, in 1934, M. A. Suslov headed the Party Control Commission under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

Conductor of Stalin's terror

A wave of numerous repressions in Rostov-on-Don and Rostov region occurred in 1937-1938. It was during this period that the party organization of the region was headed by M. A. Suslov, being the second secretary of the regional party committee. The very fact that there is not a single party organizer left at the enterprises of the region testifies to many things. Those promoted from the “Stakhanovite” ranks were honored. A striking example is the miner who headed the coal enterprises of the Rostov region. The destruction of the region's party activists opened the way for Mikhail Andreevich to higher party heights. In 1939, Suslov headed the party headquarters of the Stavropol Territory, which allowed him to easily enter the highest echelon of power. A nominee from the Stavropol Regional Committee becomes a member of the Central Audit Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

War and post-war years

The war came to Stavropol in 1942. After the capture of Rostov-on-Don, Hitler's goal was the North Caucasus. The main task Party for M.A. Suslov was the creation of a partisan movement, which he did an excellent job of heading the regional headquarters of the partisan movement. After the liberation of most of the territory of the Soviet Union, the country needed experienced party leaders. So, further fate M. A. Suslova is inextricably linked with the restoration and development of the socialist system:

• 1944 - Chairman of the Committee of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks for Lithuania.
• 1947 - Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
• 1949-1950 - editor-in-chief of the newspaper of the CPSU Central Committee "Pravda".
• 1952 - Member of the Presidium of the Central Committee.
• 1952-1982 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.

The main party ideologist died on January 25, 1982, nine months before the death of L. I. Brezhnev. At that time, he was one of the oldest leaders of the highest echelon of the party.

Mikhail Andreevich Suslov: personal life of a party member

During the years of so-called stagnation, it was not customary to talk about the personal lives of the country's party bosses. Mikhail Andreevich Suslov was no exception. The family of the country's main ideologist consisted of three people:

• Wife - Kotyleva (Suslova) Elizaveta Aleksandrovna (b. 1903), died in 1972.
• Children: son Revoliy Mikhailovich (b. 1929) and daughter Maya Mikhailovna.

Suslov Revoliy Mikhailovich, Major General for Radar, headed the science center radio-electronic systems in Moscow. The daughter of M. A. Suslov, Sumarokova M. M. moved with her family to Austria, where she still lives.

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A little over thirty years ago, on January 25, 1982, Mikhail Andreevich Suslov, a member of the Politburo and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, who at 79 years old had enormous power, died in the Central Clinical Hospital during a routine medical examination. He was buried with honors that Moscow had not seen since the death of Stalin, and the grave was dug next to the monument to the Generalissimo...
IN recent years quite a few books, articles and even television series have been published in which Suslov appears as an odious, comic, or mysterious figure. Enormous power, galoshes, driving at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour, a coat with 30 years of “experience” - it was all there. The most interesting thing is that everyone characteristic features, habits and eccentricities had very specific explanations...

Stalin's confidante

At the end of 1944, Suslov was “thrown” into Lithuania, liberated from the Nazis, receiving the post of Chairman of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks for the Lithuanian SSR. In fact, it was an extraordinary and sovereign governing body of the republic. His task was to “cleanse” government agencies, organize the fight against the “forest brothers,” and begin the process of collectivization of agriculture.
Apparently, new job Mikhail Andreevich did not really like her, and he did not always “burn” with her.

One day, State Security Commissioner Tkachenko, authorized by the NKVD-NKGB in Lithuania, “informed” Lavrentia Beria on him: “Comrade Suslov’s speeches at plenums and various meetings are more of an instructive nature. Local leaders are so accustomed to these instructions and speeches that they do not pay attention to them and do not draw conclusions for themselves... Personally, Comrade Suslov does not work much. Since the organization of the bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, he spent about half of his time in Moscow, traveling to several districts for 1-2 days, during the day to working hours you can often find him reading fiction, in the evenings... he is rarely at work.” But Comrade Stalin assessed Suslov’s activities in Lithuania in his own way.
Since March 1946, he has been working in Moscow in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. His erudition and ability to use the “correct” quotes greatly impressed the leader. A year later, at the plenum of the Central Committee, Stalin proposed his candidacy as a member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee and secretary of the Central Committee of the party. Note that at that time there were only six secretaries of the Central Committee, including Suslov and Stalin.
The new high party leader had many responsibilities. This is also the organization of the work of funds mass media(in 1949–1950 Suslov was also the editor-in-chief of Pravda), and a number of ideological issues. But the main occupation is no longer young Mikhail Andreevich was in charge of relations with communist and workers' parties around the world. And not just supervise, but also directly mentor and support them. Together with Zhdanov and Malenkov, for example, in June 1948, Suslov traveled to Romania to participate in a meeting of representatives of the Information Bureau of Communist Parties, where the issue of the “opportunistic policy” of the leadership of the Yugoslav Communist Party was discussed. By bringing Suslov closer to himself, Stalin did not make him just a person with whom he could have a drink or a snack at the Near Dacha. It was at that time that Mikhail Andreevich became confidant leader. And the Generalissimo entrusted him with the most precious thing - the party currency box.
Very little has been written about this period of Suslov’s life. Some interesting details were reflected only in the 2011 television film “Comrade Stalin,” the creators of which were advised by professional historians who possess a large amount of information that was still difficult to access.

In 1947–1953, Comrade Suslov “earned” international authority for himself by precisely determining how and to what extent to finance this or that Communist Party abroad. Many historians believe that he sometimes even personally transferred certain amounts “in envelopes” to the secretaries of the “fraternal communist parties.” But usually financing was carried out using the capabilities of the diplomatic post and Soviet residency abroad.
The pinnacle of Suslov's advancement during Stalin's lifetime was his introduction to the expanded Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee in October 1952. He stayed in this position, however, for only five months, leaving it in March 1953. A certain role in this was played by disagreements with Molotov and the brewing conflict with Malenkov, who considered himself the “ideologist” of the party and saw Suslov as a competitor. But the new First Secretary of the Central Committee, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who understood that the “veterans” Molotov, Kaganovich and Malenkov could act against him at any moment, felt his supporter in Suslov and in 1955 reintroduced him to the Presidium. This supreme body Mikhail Andreevich did not leave the CPSU (later called the Politburo) until the end of his life, that is, another 26 years. And during his tenure as Secretary of the Central Committee (35 years), he generally set an absolute record.

The leader’s former confidant had to return to Stalin, or rather, to the debunking of his cult, very soon. And the same quotes from the “classics of Marxism-Leninism”, for the timely use of which the Secretary General appreciated Suslov, began to be used by the latter to criticize Stalin. Quotes, by the way, have always been Mikhail Andreevich’s strong point. One of Khrushchev’s speechwriters, political scientist Fyodor Burlatsky, recalled that once he and his colleague Belyakov were tasked with preparing an anti-Stalin speech for Khrushchev: “By morning the speech was ready, carefully reprinted in three copies, and we went to Mikhail Andreevich. He seated us at a long table, he himself sat in the chairman’s seat, Belyakov was closer to him, and I was further away. And he began to read his speech out loud, cursing strongly in Gorky’s style and saying: “Okay, it’s well said here. And here again it’s good. Well reflected." And in one place he stopped and said: “Here we should back it up with a quote from Vladimir Ilyich. A quote would be nice." Well, I'm dazed sleepless night, assured: we will find a quote, a good quote, a quote is not a problem for us. Then he gave me his first glance, so quick and sharp, and said: “I’ll do it myself, now I’ll pick it up myself.” And he quickly ran somewhere into the corner of the office, pulled out one of the drawers that are usually found in libraries, put it on the table and began to quickly and quickly go through the cards with quotes with his long, thin fingers. He’ll pull one out and look - no, not that one. He will start reading another one to himself - again, not the same one. Then he pulled it out and said with such satisfaction: “Here, this one is good.” As Burlatsky recalled, the quote turned out to be just right...
And Mikhail Andreevich quoted not only Marx, Engels and Lenin. His extensive card index contained thousands of cards with sayings by Herzen, Gogol, Dobrolyubov, Belinsky, Leo Tolstoy, Goethe, Schiller and many other writers.

Gray cardinal

Officially, Suslov took the post of “chief ideologist” of the CPSU after the overthrow of Khrushchev, in which he took an active part. But before that he already had experience in extreme situations, both in the USSR and abroad. For example, in 1955, he took it upon himself to criticize Vyacheslav Molotov himself, after which, as we have already noted, he was returned by Khrushchev to the Presidium of the Central Committee. Two years later, in the summer of 1957, he, by the way, in alliance with Marshal Zhukov, helped Khrushchev in the fight against the “anti-party group” of Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich and, as Nikita Sergeevich aptly put it, “Shepilov, who joined them.”
And after some three months, at the October plenum of the Central Committee, Suslov was already trashing “Marshal of Victory Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov, accusing him of almost preparing a military coup: “Recently,” the Presidium of the Central Committee learned that comrade. Zhukov, without the knowledge of the Central Committee, decided to organize a school of saboteurs with more than two thousand students. This school was supposed to accept people with secondary education who had graduated military service. The duration of study there is 6-7 years, while in military academies it is 3-4 years. The school was placed under special conditions: in addition to full state support, students of the school, ordinary soldiers, had to be paid 700 rubles, and sergeants - 1000 rubles monthly. Comrade Zhukov did not even consider it necessary to inform the Central Committee about this school. Only three people should have known about its organization: Zhukov, Shtemenko and General Mamsurov, who was appointed head of this school. But General Mamsurov, as a communist, considered it his duty to inform the Central Committee about this illegal action of the minister.”

Khrushchev himself dotted the i’s at the same plenum: “It is unknown why it was necessary to gather these saboteurs without the knowledge of the Central Committee. Is this a conceivable thing? And this is what the Minister of Defense does with his character. After all, Beria also had a sabotage group, and before he was arrested, Beria called a group of his thugs. They were in Moscow, and if he had not been exposed, it is unknown whose heads would have rolled. Comrade Zhukov, you will say that this is a sick imagination. Yes, I have such an imagination.”
And Suslov, during a visit to rebellious Budapest in 1956, together with Mikoyan and Zhukov, took the initiative to prepare for the introduction of Soviet troops into Hungary, criticized Albanian, Chinese and other “wrong” communists. Already in Khrushchev’s times, he “agreed” with the same Mikoyan (Anastas Ivanovich claimed that he was “against”) the execution of workers in Novocherkassk. In general, no matter how strange and funny (some compared his appearance to that of an accountant) Suslov may seem, he made tough and difficult decisions.
Having become the main ideologist, Suslov took on a huge amount of work. One listing of his areas of activity can take several pages. In the CPSU Central Committee, he supervised the activities of the culture department, the departments of agitation and propaganda, science, schools and universities, the information department of the Central Committee, the department of youth organizations, as well as two international departments. " Gray cardinal» supervised the Political Directorate of the Soviet Army, the Ministry of Culture of the USSR, State Committee USSR Council of Ministers for Publishing, Printing and Book Trade, State Committee for Cinematography, State Television and Radio Broadcasting. His areas of interest included the work of Glavlit, TASS, relations of the CPSU with other communist and workers' parties, foreign policy of the USSR...

“Under Suslov” there were creative unions: writers, journalists, theater workers, artists, architects... Theatres, the stage, sometimes even sports and tourism were also under the closest supervision of the “man in galoshes”.

Alexander Yakovlev, who had to work with Suslov for quite a long time, recalled: “His power was incredible. People went to the Politburo like it was a holiday. Nothing happened there: giggles and guffaws, Brezhnev will be turned on, and he’ll start talking about his youth and about hunting. And at the secretariats, Suslov cut off anyone who deviated a millimeter from the topic: “You report essentially, comrade.” When Suslov was away, Andrei Pavlovich Kirilenko led the secretariats for him. So Suslov, returning, first of all canceled all the decisions taken without him. He was very independent in making decisions at the secretariat. Without consulting anyone, he announced: “We will decide this way!” When some cunning people said that another decision had been agreed upon with Brezhnev, he waved it off and replied: “I’ll agree.” And they were afraid of him primarily because he made personnel decisions very abruptly. He was once watching hockey on TV and saw that the winning team was given a TV as a reward. The next day, the director of the television plant was fired from his job. Suslov asked: “Did he give away his own TV?” And that’s it.”
Under Suslov, ideology was elevated to a cult. Our experienced readers who studied at Soviet universities remember that in the first years they necessarily studied the history of the CPSU, then Marxist-Leninist philosophy, and at the end of their studies they also studied a fantastic subject - “scientific communism”. By the way, even state exams were taken in the latter subject. Go to graduate school, get academic degree it was impossible without passing “social disciplines”. Suslov also created a system in which interference in the activities of the ideological leadership of the Central Committee, even such organizations as the KGB, was not allowed. The same Alexander Yakovlev told how, thanks to Suslov, he managed to remain in a high diplomatic post: “When I was expelled from Canada when I was an ambassador Soviet spies, Andropov brought the question about me to the Politburo. I stood up and began to say that the high-profile expulsion was my fault, due to my weak contacts with the Canadian leadership. And what needs to be decided personnel issue- recall me. Suddenly Suslov says: “Comrade Yakovlev was not appointed by the KGB as ambassador to Canada.” Andropov turned gray and sat down. Brezhnev chuckled and said: “Let’s move on to the next question.”

And modesty in personal life

As for the famous galoshes, Suslov himself explained their presence in the wardrobe by the desire to have “dry feet” all the time. The head of his security (from 1975 to 1982), Boris Aleksandrovich Martyanov, recalled: “His clothes were worn for a long time. At home he wore trousers and a jacket. At the dacha, when we went to the resort, I wore sweatpants. He had an eternal “pie” hat. He wore an old heavy coat with an astrakhan collar. He didn’t recognize any microflogging in shoes - he wore low shoes with leather soles - they were made to order for him in a special workshop: a shoemaker came, measured his feet and made them. Mikhail Andreevich wore them until the entire sole was worn off. Suslov also liked to wear galoshes: when we arrive at the Party Bureau, he carefully puts the galoshes under the hanger. Everyone who comes knows: “The galoshes are in place, which means Mikhail Andreevich has arrived.” Because no one else wore galoshes except him. He told us about this: “Wearing galoshes is very comfortable - it’s damp outside, but I came into the room, took off my galoshes - and please: my feet are always dry!”
In fact, Suslov’s manner of wearing galoshes, warm coat or a raincoat in the summer was explained by the fact that in his youth he suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis and was afraid of any cold.
One of Suslov’s guards, Dmitry Selivanov, recalled several years ago how Suslov’s relatives gathered him for France: “He rarely went abroad. And one day he was invited to France on an official visit. Maya, his daughter, began to take care of his equipment. “Dad, take off your hat, change it, you need a different one, a different coat.” He was very reluctant. He always loved to walk in the fall and spring and wear galoshes on his boots. And she convinced him: “Don’t you dare!” But if he’s used to this kind of thing, you can’t convince him to change it. It was the daughter, the family had to work hard to dress it up in a modern style...”

But moving at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour in a huge black ZIL was most likely not intended to ensure operational movement or safety. The Secretary of the Central Committee was never late for anything. At 8.59 he entered the Central Committee building, at 13.00 he drank tea, and at 17.59 he left work. And during his half-hour journey from the dacha to the Old Square, he simply observed the life of the capital. Sometimes these observations brought results. Eldar Ryazanov recalled that Suslov once saw from a car window an advertising poster for Ryazanov’s film “The Man from Nowhere,” which depicted Sergei Yursky with lush facial hair. The main ideologist of the USSR did not like either the actor or the name. As a result, the film lay on the shelf for more than twenty years.
Deputy head of Brezhnev’s security, Vladimir Timofeevich Medvedev, recalled some of Suslov’s habits and eccentricities: “Mikhail Andreevich Suslov, by the end of the General’s life, was practically the second man in the party. Reinsurer, pedant, dogmatist in words and actions. In addition, he is a very stubborn person. The leading creative intelligentsia feared him most of all, the main ideologist of the party.

In a high environment, the character and habits of this man caused irony. Just look at the galoshes, which he never parted with, it seems, even in clear weather, and which became something of his calling card, as did his old-fashioned coat, which he wore for decades. After Brezhnev’s playful offer to members of the Politburo to chip in for Suslov’s coat, he finally acquired a new one.
Sometimes we go out onto the Mozhaisk highway and trudge along at a speed of 60 kilometers per hour. There is a cluster of cars ahead. Leonid Ilyich jokes:
- Mikhail is probably on his way!
Brezhnev addressed everyone as “you,” and if not in public, not in front of everyone, then by the names Yura, Kostya, Nikolai. He could call Suslov by name only in absentia; he addressed him as well as Kosygin. Only by first name and patronymic. Apparently, because with Suslov, as with Kosygin, the general felt less confident than with the others, both of them could object to him. It happened that everyone was “for”, but Suslov was “against”. And when, say, the question of awards or laureates was being decided and everything was going like clockwork, someone would always say: “However, Mikhail Andreevich will look at it...”
“And you explain to him...” Brezhnev said and after a pause added:
“Well, I’ll talk to him myself.”

Employees of the apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee recalled that Suslov’s personal modesty was of an exaggerated nature, but was completely sincere. While on business trips, he even paid for set meals, down to the penny. And also, without informing anyone, he transferred part of his salary to the Peace Fund and other charitable purposes, sent books to the libraries of his native Saratov region...
Many people who worked with Suslov noted his unpretentiousness regarding nutrition. The most ordinary food, porridge, dietary soups... The head of the security of the Secretary of the Central Committee, Boris Martyanov, recalled: “A cook in the south could cook a month in advance - and there was no need to work further.” It’s just that during the Kremlin receptions, difficulties could arise with food for Suslov. Alexey Alekseevich Salnikov, an employee of the 9th Directorate of the KGB, who served the top officials of the USSR for many years, told me: “Suslov was very capricious, which manifested itself primarily at various festive receptions. He was often dissatisfied with the food served. Things like eggplant and squash caviar should not have been shown to him at all. They disgusted him, and he called them “sluts.” I always had to keep sausages especially for him. Everyone is served sturgeon in Moscow style, for example, and he is served sausages and mashed potatoes... He also practically did not drink alcohol, except perhaps a glass of wine or champagne on a holiday. At receptions, boiled water was poured into his glass...”
Nikolai Kharybin, the commandant of the dacha in Bocharov Stream, where Suslov liked to relax, noted that he showed some capriciousness regarding the landscape design of the dacha and its interior. He really didn’t like the fact that instead of a wooden flooring, they made a path paved with stones leading to the sea, as if it “shone.” I decided to move to another Riviera facility, and there the paths were also paved with tiles. Suslov said that it seemed to him that when he walked, he was about to fall into a hole. He didn’t like the dark blue furniture either – he had to change it. Having learned from the experience of communicating with the “man in galoshes,” Nikolai Arsentievich decided from now on to coordinate everything with him. I brought samples of wallpaper and other interior details to Suslova “for approval.” And since then, Mikhail Andreevich has not had any complaints...

"Patron of the Arts"

Suslov’s “merits” in the field of “compliance with the principles of Marxist-Leninist ideology” include the dispersal of the editorial office of Novy Mir and the confiscation of copies of dozens of already printed books. His famous catchphrase was used to respond to publishing workers who complained about losses: “They don’t skimp on ideology!”
The name of Suslov is associated with problems that arose at the Taganka Theater, an actual ban on the publication of lyrics and poems by Vladimir Vysotsky, and a careful “filtering” of the memories of military leaders and political figures, including Georgy Zhukov and Anastas Mikoyan. Many films, such as “Garage” by Eldar Ryazanov and “Kalina Krasnaya” by Vasily Shukshin, were banned for a long time from showing in major cities of the USSR.
There were, however, cases when the anger of the main ideologist could be softened, even if the initiators of the “punishment” were members of the Politburo. Alexander Yakovlev recalled one conversation with his former boss: “He listened very carefully during face-to-face conversations. I asked questions, and 99 percent of the time he listened to what I told him. When Yegor Yakovlev was removed from his post as editor-in-chief of the Journalist magazine, the question arose about his work. I considered its removal completely unjustified. The initiator was Ustinov. I saw reproductions of Gerasimov’s paintings from the Tretyakov Gallery on the cover of a magazine. Well, a naked woman. But this is not a reason to accuse the magazine editor of distributing pornography! I went to Suslov. He asked about Yegor. And he agreed to his appointment as a correspondent for Izvestia.
At one time, the Central Committee of the CPSU passed from mouth to mouth the story of how Mikhail Andreevich Suslov visited a dentist in a Kremlin hospital. He came complaining of a bad tooth and sat down in a chair. The doctor asked him to open his mouth. And the secretary of the Central Committee asked him a question: “Excuse me, but is it possible to somehow do without this?” Many researchers, recalling this funny legend, wrote that Suslov’s credo was to open his mouth as little as possible. It seems that he also called on the creative intelligentsia to do the same...

Mikhail Andreevich Suslov’s relationship with sports was, surprisingly, very good. You may not believe it, but Suslov played volleyball from time to time. Despite all this, he played even when he was over seventy. Usually on vacation, his children, Revoliy and Maya (she was luckier with her name), daughter-in-law Olga and the guards were divided into two teams. The tall Mikhail Andreevich (190 centimeters, by the way) was not a very strong player, and he had good amateurs playing on his team, who corrected the flaws in the game of “a man in galoshes.” And the opponents tried not to apply or “extinguish” him. Suslov’s head of security, Boris Martyanov, recalled that he was very upset and upset when his team lost, so he had to restrain his passion and sometimes give in...
The Secretary of the Central Committee swam from time to time, preferring, however, unlike Brezhnev, who practiced long swims, ten-minute dives into the sea, pool or river. A mandatory attribute for him was a bathing cap.

Suslov was also moderately interested in hockey. Most likely, this was caused not by passion, but by ideological considerations: our victories in the World and European Championships, as well as at the Olympics, significantly increased the prestige of the country and improved the internal situation due to more positive attitude citizens of the USSR. He himself rarely visited Luzhniki and most likely was burdened by these visits, but he kept his finger on the pulse tightly. There were several cases when he attended games of the USSR Championship or the Izvestia Prize in company with Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev and other members of the Politburo. In this case, all ashtrays were removed from the rest room, and Leonid Ilyich, who usually smoked right in the box of the Luzhniki Sports Palace, was forced to light a cigarette during the break almost in the toilet. Unlike other high-ranking fans, Suslov did not touch alcohol during breaks in hockey matches, but he took an active part in the Politburo’s favorite pastime - domino tournaments.
Old-timers of Luzhniki remember the incident when, after the first period of the game CSKA - Spartak, the Politburo in full force suddenly did not return to the box. During the second period, all the spectators discussed was the disappearance of all the leaders. Someone ran into the lobby to see if the government ZILs were parked. They weren't there! Immediately rumors spread that a war had started or some kind of emergency on a union scale had occurred. And at the beginning of the third period, the entire Politburo appeared in the box and was even greeted with applause. The casket opened simply: the leaders of the party and state could not tear themselves away from the fundamental domino tournament with a game of “knockout”. But there shouldn’t have been any cars in the parking lot: they brought protected persons to the game, and then returned to the Special Purpose Garage (GON) to return either at the end of the match or when called...
When in 1972 the question arose about a meeting between the hockey players of the USSR national team and the best Canadian professionals, Mikhail Andreevich was against it. The loss significantly weakened our position in this most important sport, especially after in the spring of that year we lost to the Czechoslovakian team in the battle for the world championship gold medals. But in the case of the Canadians, Brezhnev took the decision upon himself. He was confident that ours would perform with dignity, and, which happened quite rarely, entered into an argument with Suslov. As a result, the legendary “Super Series - 72” was presented to the world. But if the “man in galoshes” had stuck, we wouldn’t have seen any Phil Esposito for another ten years. Thanks to Brezhnev for this...

Monument to Comrade Suslov

Some party leaders believed that Suslov's death was caused not only purely medical reasons. Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev, for example, many years later wrote the following in his autobiographical book: “Suslov’s death was somehow very timely. He greatly interfered with Andropov, who was striving for power. Suslov did not like him and would never have allowed Andropov to be elected general secretary. So we cannot exclude the possibility that they helped him die.”
In the same way, Boris Nikolaevich Ponomarev, Suslov’s closest ally and deputy, expressed certain doubts about why the main ideologist of the party actually died: “Of course, the years took their toll, and it became increasingly difficult for Mikhail Andreevich to work. As expected, before his vacation he went to the Kuntsevo hospital for examination. A couple of days before, we talked to him. He was in a good holiday mood. He said that after his return we will have more work. I still don't know what he meant. He felt quite well. There he went for a walk. Suddenly I felt pain in my heart. He was getting worse. He returned to his premises, where his daughter Maya was at that time. She rushed to Mikhail Andreevich and called the doctors. And three days later he was gone. Very strange."

But Suslov undoubtedly thought about his imminent death. In the late seventies, the leader of the Time Machine, Andrei Makarevich, studied at the evening department of the Moscow Architectural Institute and worked at the Moscow Giprotheatre (an institute that designed theater buildings and their surrounding areas). And he told me the following story, which, in my opinion, could well have real basis: “The director of the institute, as absolutely everyone knew, worked actively only until lunch. At lunch in the institute canteen, in the presence of the entire team, he was brought a glass of cognac, which was covered with a white napkin. The director drank it, after which everyone began to have lunch, and he, having had a bite, went either to the office, from where no orders and instructions were received that day, or home.
One fine day, when he had already removed the napkin from the glass and was already preparing to take it and throw it down his throat, the secretary ran into the room shouting: “Don’t drink!” The director put down his glass with displeasure, and she, out of breath, told him that they had just called from Suslov and a car had come out for him, the director. He had to leave the cognac until better times and go to Old Square.
It turned out that the secretary of the Central Committee decided to talk to the director of the institute about his death. Suslov’s speech went something like this: “We are all not eternal, unfortunately. Apparently, I will soon leave for another world. By decision of the Politburo, a monument to me will be erected on October Square. The pedestal is supposed to be installed in the form of a column made of Karelian granite, and on it will be a sculpture of my statue in a robe and cap, which shows my reverent attitude towards the sciences. Under my left elbow I will have a book, symbolizing knowledge and my patronage of literature and art. Well, around the pedestal there will be scenes cast in bronze of my rich biography. We studied your work, and I decided that the architectural project for the reconstruction of the square should be entrusted to you. There will be a corresponding decision from the Politburo in the near future. So get ready for something big."
Needless to say, for the next few months the entire institute was exclusively focused on the project of improving Oktyabrskaya Square. When it was ready, the director received a state bonus, and the institute’s employees, including me, received smaller bonuses. But they weren’t superfluous either...

They say that this story had a continuation. There were rumors that on November 7, 1981, on the podium of the Mausoleum, Suslov had a political argument with Brezhnev and he did not very diplomatically cut off the Secretary General. And Leonid Ilyich, getting angry, threatened that there would be no monument to him, Suslov. Soon after this, in early 1982, an upset Mikhail Andreevich died, and three years later a monument to Lenin by Lev Kerbel was erected on Oktyabrskaya Square. By the way, for unknown reasons, the title architect was not the director of the Moscow Giprotheatre, but Gleb Makarevich, the chief architect of Moscow.”
In 1972, being awarded a second Hero Star Socialist Labor(on his 70th birthday), Suslov received the right to a lifetime bronze bust in his homeland in the village of Shakhovskoye (now Ulyanovsk region). Another bust of Suslov stands on his grave near the Kremlin wall. There are no other monuments to the “man in galoshes” either in our country or in other countries of the world...

Suslov Mikhail Andreevich- Soviet politician, member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, secretary of the Party Central Committee. Member of the RCP(b)/VKP(b)/CPSU since 1921.

Born on November 8 (21), 1902 in the village of Shakhovskoye, Khvalynsky district, Saratov province (now Ulyanovsk region) into a Russian peasant family.

In 1918–20 he actively worked in the village committee in Khvalynsky district. In 1924 he graduated from the Prechistensky Workers' Faculty in Moscow, in 1928 from the Moscow Institute of National Economy named after G.V. Plekhanov. Since 1929 - teacher of political economy at Moscow State University and at the Industrial Academy. then, from 1929 to 1931, he studied at the graduate school of the Institute of Economics of the Communist Academy and at the same time taught political economy at Moscow State University and the Industrial Academy.

In 1931, Mikhail Suslov, by decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, was sent to the apparatus of the Central Control Commission - the Rabkrin. In 1934–36 - in the Commission of Soviet Control under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (SNK USSR), then until 1936 - in the Commission of Soviet Control under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR. In 1937-39, head of the department, secretary of the Rostov Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In 1939–44, first secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks.

In 1936–37 M.A. Suslov is a student of the Economic Institute of the Red Professorship. In 1937–1939 head of department, secretary, second secretary of the Rostov Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In 1939–1944 - First Secretary of the Ordzhonikidze (Stavropol) Regional Committee and City Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).

At the same time, in 1941 - 1944. member of the Military Council of the Northern Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front, since 1942 head of the Stavropol regional headquarters of partisan detachments. Since the end of 1944, Chairman of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks for the Lithuanian SSR. One of the initiators of the eviction of a group of people from the Baltic states. The Bureau he headed worked to eliminate the consequences of the war and to combat numerous detachments of the “forest brothers” - anti-Soviet armed gangs in the allied Baltic republics.

Since March 18, 1946 M.A. Suslov worked in the apparatus of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) / CPSU. From May 22, 1947 - Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) / CPSU. In 1949 - 1951 editor-in-chief of the newspaper Pravda (organ of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks).

At the 19th Party Congress in October 1952, M.A. Suslov was elected a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Since October 18, 1952 M.A. Suslov was a member of the Standing Commission on Foreign Affairs under the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and a member of the Standing Commission on Ideological Issues under the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.

March 5, 1953 M.A. Suslov was removed from the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee. Together with P. N. Pospelov prepared an appeal from the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to all party members, to all workers of the Soviet Union about the death of I.V. Stalin. From April 16, 1953 to 1954, he worked as head of the Department of the CPSU Central Committee for Relations with Foreign Affairs communist parties. Since July 12, 1955 M.A. Suslov is a member of the Presidium (from April 8, 1966 - Politburo) of the CPSU Central Committee.

During the first attempt to remove Khrushchev in June 1957, at a meeting of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, he was among the four members of the Presidium who voted against the release of N. S. Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. However, in 1964, he chaired the meeting of the October Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, which relieved N.S. Khrushchev from both posts - First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

He played a huge role in the leadership of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the USSR from the second half of the 1950s until his death. Under L.I. Brezhnev, he was the second person in the Party, being the main ideologist of the CPSU. He stood unshakably in the positions of the most orthodox Marxism, rejection of any deviation from it, ideological war with bourgeois ideology. At the same time scientific works practically had none.

Suslov was distinguished by pedantry and extreme asceticism. He wore galoshes and old-cut suits. After trips abroad, he handed over the remaining currency to the party cash desk.

He always conducted meetings of the Secretariat of the Central Committee clearly, without allowing idle talk. According to the memoirs of the former editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Soviet Russia” M. F. Nenashev:

“Speeches take 5-7 minutes. I couldn’t keep up, a minute later M.A. Suslov said: “Thank you,” and the embarrassed speaker rolled up his notes. I confess that we, the participants in those meetings, the editors of the newspapers V. Afanasyev, L. Tolkunov, remembered M. A. Suslov more than once, when his chairmanship in the Secretariat was taken by Chernenko, Gorbachev ... and uncontrollable hours-long word debates were overwhelmed by a muddy wave of the meeting executive body party."

M.A. Suslov was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st–10th convocations - all except the last. He was a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1950–1954, and since 1954 - Chairman of the Commission on foreign affairs Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Suslov supported the nomination of M. S. Gorbachev to Moscow:

“Suslov, going on vacation, sometimes visited Stavropol. And one day, during another visit, as they say, the local party leadership, including Gorbachev, invited and showed him... the museum of the life and work of Mikhail Andreevich Suslov. The elder gave in, was moved and repaid Gorbachev with kindness” (Gromyko A. A. “Andrei Gromyko in the labyrinths of the Kremlin. Memories and reflections of a son.” M., 1997. P. 70).

Died on January 25, 1982. He was buried in Moscow on Red Square near the Kremlin wall next to the grave of I.V. Stalin.

He was awarded five Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, medals, and foreign awards, including the Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia, 1977).

November 19, 1982 M.A. Suslov was inaugurated in Moscow memorial plaques on the building of the Moscow Institute of National Economy named after G.V. Plekhanov in Zamoskvorechye (Stremyanny Lane, building No. 28), on the old building of Moscow State University (Mokhovaya Street) and on the facade of building No. 19 on Bolshaya Bronnaya Street.

Essays:

1. Marxism-Leninism and the modern era. Collection of speeches. - M.: Politizdat 1980;
2. Marxism-Leninism and the modern era. Selected speeches and articles. In 3 volumes - M.: Politizdat 1982;
3. On the path to building communism. Speeches and articles. In 2 volumes. - Frunze (Kyrgyzstan), 1982.

Sources:

• Zenkovich N.A. The most closed people. Encyclopedia of biographies. M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2002
• Article by Yuri Lebedev on warheroes.ru