Anastas Mikoyan

Mikoyan joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. This decision aligned him with Lenin's revolutionary movement, setting the course for his long political career in the Soviet Union.

Mikoyan was appointed People's Commissar for Trade of the USSR. He oversaw the implementation of Stalin's industrialization policies and the collectivization of agriculture, managing food supply and distribution.

During Stalin's Great Purge, Mikoyan was one of the few top Bolsheviks who survived without being executed or imprisoned. He continued to hold high office, demonstrating his political survival skills.

Mikoyan was appointed First Deputy Premier under Nikita Khrushchev. He played a key role in de-Stalinization and economic reforms, including the introduction of the sovnarkhoz system.

Mikoyan became Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal head of state of the USSR. He served until 1965, when he was forced to retire by Leonid Brezhnev.