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Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (; , ; ; – 21 October 1978) was a Soviet statesman, diplomat, and Bolshevik revolutionary who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union. As a member of the Communist Party's Central Committee from 1923 to 1976, he was the only Soviet politician who remained in power from Vladimir Lenin, through the eras of Joseph Stalin and Khrushchev, to his retirement under Leonid Brezhnev. His longevity inspired the popular Russian saying "from Ilyich Lenin to Ilyich Brezhnev without heart attack and paralysis."
An ethnic Armenians, Mikoyan joined the Bolsheviks in 1915, and following the October Revolution of 1917 participated in the Baku Commune. In the 1920s, he was the party's boss in the North Caucasus. Mikoyan was elected to the Politburo in 1935, served as foreign trade minister from 1926 to 1930 and again from 1938, and during World War II became a member of the State Defense Committee. After the war, Mikoyan began to lose favour, losing his position as minister in 1949 and being criticized by Stalin at the 19th Party Congress in 1952. Following Stalin's death in 1953, Mikoyan sided with Khrushchev, supported him against Anti-Party Group in 1957, and played a leading role in crafting his de-Stalinization policy.
Under Khrushchev, Mikoyan played an important role in Soviet foreign policy, making several key trips to the United States and communist Cuba. He acquired an important stature on the international diplomatic scene, especially with his skill in exercising soft power to further Soviet interests. In 1964, Khrushchev was forced to step down in a coup that brought Brezhnev to power. Mikoyan briefly served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the nominal head of state, from 1964 until his forced retirement in 1965.
Mikoyan learned to read and write from a monk at the Sanahin Monastery. He received his formal education at the Nersisian School in Tiflis and the Gevorgian Seminary in Vagharshapat, both affiliated with the Armenian Apostolic Church. Religion, however, played an increasingly insignificant role in his life. He would later remark that his continued studies in theology drew him closer to atheism: "I had a very clear feeling that I didn't believe in God and that I had in fact received a certificate in Materialism uncertainty; the more I studied religious subjects, the less I believed in God." Before becoming active in politics, Mikoyan had already dabbled in the study of liberalism and socialism.
Mikoyan soon became a convinced Marxism and, by the age of twenty, had formed a workers' soviet in Echmiadzin. In 1915, he formally joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (later known as the Bolshevik Party) and became a leader of the revolutionary movement in the Caucasus. Mikoyan's revolutionary activities led him to Baku, where he became the co-editor for the Armenian-language newspaper Sotsyal-Demokrat and later for the Russian language paper Izvestia Bakinskogo Soveta.
After the fall of Baku, Shaumian and other Bolshevik leaders were arrested by the Centrocaspian Dictatorship. A commando unit, led by Mikoyan, organized their escape from prison, and they fled across the Caspian Sea to Krasnovodsk (today Türkmenbaşy in present-day Turkmenistan). However, at Krasnovodsk they were arrested by the Transcaspian Government, which was controlled by the British-allied Socialist Revolutionaries. The SR authorities executed the 26 Baku commissars, including Shaumian, on 20 September 1918 in the Turkmen desert. It was only by accident that Mikoyan avoided their fate. As American journalist Harrison Salisbury wrote:
After his release in February 1919, Mikoyan returned to Baku and resumed his activities there, helping to establish the Baku Bureau of the Caucasus Regional Committee ( kraikom). At the suggestion of Lenin, the Central Committee assigned Mikoyan to the party organization in Nizhny Novgorod in September 1920. In 1922–26, he became Secretary of the South East Bureau of the Communist Party and its successor, the North Caucasus kraikom. It was in that position that Mikoyan advocated granting Chechnya autonomous status.
As People's Commissar for External and Internal Trade from 1926, he imported ideas from the West, such as the manufacture of Canning. In 1935 he was elected to the Politburo and was one of the first Soviet leaders to pay goodwill trips to the United States in order to boost economic cooperation. In the summer of 1936, Mikoyan spent two months in the United States, where he not only learned more about its food industry but also met and spoke with Henry Ford and US Secretary of State Cordell Hull. When he returned, Mikoyan introduced a number of popular American consumer products to the Soviet Union, including American , ice cream, corn flakes, popcorn, tomato juice, grapefruit and corn on the cob.
Mikoyan spearheaded a project to produce a home cookbook, which would encourage a return to the domestic kitchen. The result, The Book of Tasty and Healthy Food ( Книга о вкусной и здоровой пище, Kniga o vkusnoi i zdorovoi pishche), was published in 1939. Mikoyan even helped to initiate the production of ice cream in the USSR and kept the quality of ice cream under his own personal control until he was dismissed. Stalin made a joke about this, stating, "You, Anastas, care more about ice cream, than about communism." Mikoyan also contributed to the development of meat production in the USSR (particularly, the so-called Mikoyan cutlet), and a Soviet-era sausage factory was named after him.
In September 1937, Stalin dispatched Georgy Malenkov and Mikhail Litvin of the NKVD to Yerevan, the capital of Soviet Armenia, in response to the death of Sahak Ter-Gabrielyan. Their mission was to oversee the purge of the Armenian Communist Party and its leaders First Secretary Amatuni Amatuni and NKVD chief Khachik Mughdusi , both loyalists of Lavrentii Beria. Stalin later dispatched Mikoyan too, in order to test his loyalty and send a signal to Soviet Armenian leaders. Stalin did not trust Mikoyan due to his leniency towards the persecuted. In several instances, Mikoyan had intervened on behalf of his friends and colleagues to save them. During his trip to Armenia, he tried, but failed, to save one individual (Danush Shahverdyan) from the repressions. However, "on the instructions of Great Stalin," he led the attack during a stormy session of the Armenian Central Committee plenum, during which Amatuni angrily called him a "liar." More than a thousand people were arrested and seven of nine members of the Armenian Politburo were sacked from office.
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Mikoyan was placed in charge of organizing the transportation of food and supplies. His son Vladimir, a pilot in the Red Air Force, died in combat when his plane was shot down over Stalingrad. Mikoyan's main assignment throughout the war was supplying the Red Army with materiel, food and other necessities. He is also credited for his significant role in the 1941 relocation of Soviet industry from the threatened western cities, such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg, eastward to the Ural Mountains, Western Siberia, the Volga region, and other safer zones. During the war, Mikoyan alone dissented on Stalin and Beria's deportations of nationalities, especially the Chechens and the Ingush people, officially out of "concern regarding the possible international repercussions" for the USSR.
In February 1942, by order of Stalin, Mikoyan became a Special Representative of the State Defense Committee. He had not been a member until that point because Beria believed he would be of more use in government administration. Mikoyan was decorated with a Hero of Socialist Labor in 1943 for his efforts. In 1946, he became the Vice-Premier of the Council of Ministers. As Minister of Foreign Trade, he was responsible for the dismantlement of industry and infrastructure in Soviet-occupied Eastern Germany for collection as reparations.
In 1956, Mikoyan helped Khrushchev organize his "Secret Speech", delivered before the 20th Party Congress, in which Khrushchev denounced Stalin's personality cult. It was Mikoyan, and not Khrushchev, who made the first anti-Stalinist speech at the 20th Congress. As Khrushchev's "point man on nationality matters," Mikoyan helped roll back some of the stifling restrictions on national cultures imposed during Stalin's time. On 11 March 1954, he gave a speech in Yerevan in his native Armenia, where he called for the rehabilitation of Yeghishe Charents, the republication of Raphael Patkanian and Raffi, and the revival of Alexander Miasnikian's legacy. Behind the scenes, he assisted Armenian leaders in the rehabilitation of former "enemies" in the republic, and worked with Lev Shaumyan (son of Stepan), as well as Gulag returnees Alexei Snegov and Olga Shatunovskaya on the process of de-Stalinization. Mikoyan was personally involved in the rehabilitation of several high-profile Soviet figures, including Armenia's former first secretary, Aghasi Khanjian.
In 1957, Mikoyan refused to back an attempt by Malenkov, Molotov, and Lazar Kaganovich to remove Khrushchev from power, and thus secured his position as one of Khrushchev's closest allies during the Thaw. He backed Khrushchev because of his strong support for de-Stalinization and political reform. In recognition of Mikoyan's support and talents, Khrushchev frequently deferred to him on domestic policy. It was Mikoyan who played a leading role in the return and rehabilitation of nationalities victimized by Stalin and Beria's wartime deportations.
In 1962, Khrushchev sent Mikoyan and Frol Kozlov to Novocherkassk to deal with growing unrest in the southern city. Although Mikoyan opposed force and sought dialogue with the demonstrators, Kozlov pushed for a harsh response, resulting in the Novocherkassk massacre.
During November 1958 Khrushchev made an unsuccessful attempt to turn all of Berlin into an independent, demilitarized "free city", giving the United States, Great Britain, and France a six-month ultimatum to withdraw their troops from the sectors they still occupied in West Berlin, or he would transfer control of Western access rights to the . Mikoyan disapproved of Khrushchev's actions, claiming they violated "Party principle." Khrushchev had proposed the ultimatum to the West before discussing it with the Central Committee. Ruud van Dijk, a historian, believed Mikoyan was angry because Khrushchev did not consult him about the proposal. When asked by Khrushchev to ease tension with the United States, Mikoyan responded, "You started it, so you go!"
However, Mikoyan eventually left for Washington, D.C., which was the first time a senior governing member of the USSR's Council of Ministers visited the United States on a diplomatic mission to its leadership. Furthermore, Mikoyan approached the mission with unprecedented informality, beginning with phrasing his visa request to US Embassy as "a fortnight's holiday" to visit his friend, Mikhail Menshikov, the then Soviet Ambassador to the United States. While the White House was taken off guard by this seemingly impromptu diplomatic mission, Mikoyan was invited to speak to numerous elite American organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Detroit Club in which he professed his hopes for the USSR to have a more peaceful relationship with the US. While in Cleveland, Mikoyan gifted a troika to industrialist Cyrus Eaton and admired the city's Terminal Tower, which reminded him of the tower at Moscow State University.
In addition to such well received engagements, Mikoyan indulged in more informal opportunities to meet the public such as having breakfast at a Howard Johnson's restaurant on the New Jersey Turnpike, visiting Macy's Department Store in New York City and meeting celebrities in Hollywood like Jerry Lewis and Sophia Loren before having an audience with President Dwight Eisenhower and Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Although unsuccessful in altering Washington's Berlin policy, Mikoyan was hailed in the US for easing international tensions with an innovative emphasis on soft diplomacy that largely went over well with the American public.
Mikoyan disapproved of Khrushchev's walkout from the 1960 Paris Summit over the U-2 Crisis of 1960, which he believed kept tension in the Cold War high for another fifteen years. However, throughout this time, he remained Khrushchev's closest ally in the upper echelons of the Soviet leadership. As Mikoyan later noted, Khrushchev "engaged in inexcusable hysterics."
In November 1963, Mikoyan was asked by Khrushchev to represent the USSR at President John F. Kennedy's funeral. At the funeral ceremony, Mikoyan appeared visibly shaken by the president's death and was approached by Jacqueline Kennedy, who took his hand and conveyed to him the following message: "Please tell Mr. Chairman Khrushchev that I know he and my husband worked together for a peaceful world, and now he and you must carry on my husband's work."According to then Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Jacqueline Kennedy's message was much shorter and to the point: "My husband's dead. Now peace is up to you":
Khrushchev told Mikoyan of his idea of shipping Soviet missiles to Cuba. Mikoyan was opposed to the idea, and was even more opposed to giving the Cubans control over the Soviet missiles. In early November 1962, after the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to a framework to remove Soviet nuclear missiles from Cuba, Khrushchev dispatched Mikoyan to Havana to help persuade Castro to cooperate in the withdrawal. Just prior to beginning negotiations with Castro, Mikoyan was informed about the death of his wife, Ashkhen, in Moscow; rather than return there for the funeral, Mikoyan opted to stay and sent his son Sergo Mikoyan there instead.
Castro was adamant that the missiles remain but Mikoyan, seeking to avoid a full-fledged confrontation with the United States, attempted to convince him otherwise. He told Castro, "You know that not only in these letters but today also, we hold to the position that you will keep all the weapons and all the military specialists with the exception of the 'offensive' weapons and associated service personnel, which were promised to be withdrawn in Khrushchev's letter of." Castro balked at the idea of further concessions, namely the removal of the Il-28 bombers and tactical nuclear weapons still left in Cuba. Eventually, after several tense and grueling weeks of negotiations, he finally relented, and the missiles and the bombers were removed in December of that year.
Some scholars have claimed that by 1964 Mikoyan believed that Khrushchev had turned into a liability to the Party, and that he was involved in the October 1964 coup that brought Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin to power. However, historian William Taubman disputes this, as Mikoyan was the only member of the Presidium (the name for the Politburo at this time) to defend Khrushchev. Mikoyan, however, did vote to force Khrushchev's retirement (so as, in traditional Soviet style, to make the vote unanimous). Alone among Khrushchev's colleagues, Mikoyan wished the former leader well in his retirement, and he, alone, visited Khrushchev at his dacha a few years later. Mikoyan laid a wreath and sent a letter of condolence at Khrushchev's funeral in 1971.
Due to his partial defense of Khrushchev during his ouster, Mikoyan lost his high standing with the new Soviet leadership. The Politburo forced Mikoyan to retire from his seat in the Politburo due to old age. Mikoyan quickly also lost his post as head of state and was succeeded in this post by Nikolai Podgorny on 9 December 1965. In retirement, Mikoyan, like Khrushchev, wrote frank but selective memoirs from his political career, including his revolutionary activity in Baku. He died on 21 October 1978, at the age of 82, from natural causes and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow. At his funeral, the "government of the Soviet Union's Armenian Republic provided an official guard of honor." Mikoyan received six commendations of the Order of Lenin.
Mikoyan was deeply proud of his Armenian identity and viewed Soviet Russia as the best guarantor for Armenia's survival. In a 1959 meeting with U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon in Moscow, he raised the issue of the treatment of the Armenians in Turkey. He greatly enjoyed meeting fellow Armenians abroad, including former U.S. ambassador Edward Djerejian. In 1962, K. P. S. Menon described Mikoyan as Armenia's "most famous son." David Marshall Lang cited him as an "excellent modern example" of Armenian "toughness and endurance," while Khrushchev cited Mikoyan and his brother Artem as examples of Armenian success in the USSR.
However, in post-Soviet Armenia, Mikoyan's legacy is contentious. His critics point to his participation in the 1930s purges in Armenia on the orders of Stalin. His supporters argue that he was a major figure on the global political stage and point to his diplomacy during the Cuban missile crisis. Others emphasize Mikoyan's important role in de-Stalinization in Armenia, including his significant involvement in rehabilitations. Mikoyan's contributions to the development of the Soviet Armenian state included support for major economic projects, such as the Arpa–Sevan tunnel. As a Supreme Soviet Deputy for Yerevan, he maintained close ties with Soviet Armenian officials like Anton Kochinyan, Yeghishe Astsatryan, and Yakov Zarobyan and regularly consulted with them on Armenian affairs. Although limited in his ability to assist Armenian leaders on Nagorno-Karabakh, he was sympathetic to Armenian concerns, and his son Sergo was later a prominent advocate for the Karabakh movement. Despite his break with the Armenian Church, Mikoyan maintained good relations with Catholicos Vazgen I. He was also a supporter of composer Aram Khachaturian, and counted Marshal Ivan Bagramyan among his personal friends.
Mikoyan married Ashkhen Tumanyan in 1921. Together, they had five sons – Stepan, Vladimir, Aleksei, Vano, and Sergo. Kochinyan recalled that, while visiting the Armenian village of Khndzoresk in the 1960s, Mikoyan was asked by a local woman how many children his wife had. When he replied "five boys," she "laughed heartily" and remarked "Your wife is a rashid hero. There is no way that I can top her!" In addition to their five sons, the Mikoyans adopted the two sons of Stepan Shaumian. They had so many children under their care that they faced financial problems. Ashkhen would borrow money from Politburo wives who had fewer children. If Mikoyan had discovered this, he would, according to his children, have become furious.
Mikoyan was one of the few Old Bolsheviks who survived Stalin's purges and was able to retire comfortably from political life. Sheila Fitzpatrick referred to Mikoyan as "the great survivor of Soviet politics," while Roy Medvedev wrote that Mikoyan represented an "uncommon example of political survival under Soviet conditions." Pietro Shakarian noted that Mikoyan's reputation for survival was "undoubtedly augmented by the larger theme of survival in the history of his native republic, Armenia." One veteran Soviet official described Mikoyan's political career in the following manner: "The rascal was able to walk through Red Square on a rainy day without an umbrella and without getting wet. He could dodge the raindrops."
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