Anastas
Mikoyan
was in Sanain, Armenia, on 13th November, 1895. He studied theology
but he abandoned the priesthood to join the Bolsheviks
in 1915 and took part in the October Revolution
in the Caucasus.
During
the Civil War he was arrested in Baku
by the British Army but escaped and made his way to Moscow where he
met Vladimir Lenin and Joseph
Stalin and other Bolshevik leaders.
After the
death of Vladimir Lenin Mikoyan became
a supporter of Joseph Stalin, and was
appointed to the Central Committee in 1923 and three years later was
appointed people's commissar for external and internal trade. He was
willing to learn from advances in the West and introduced the manufacture
of canned goods.
In 1935
Mikoyan was elected to the Politburo and during the Second
World War served on the State Defence Committee with special responsibility
for organizing the transport of supplies.
Mikoyan
served as minister of trade under Georgy
Malenkov. However, he supported Nikita
Khrushchev against Malenkov and in February, 1955, was rewarded
with the post of deputy premier of the Soviet Union.
After Khrushchev's
fall from power, Mikoyan was appointed as chairman of the Presidium
of the Supreme Soviet (1964-66). Anastas
Mikoyan
died in Moscow on 21st October, 1978.
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