Nikolai Shchelokov
Shchelokov in 1973
Minister of Internal Affairs
(Minister of Public Order until 25 November 1968)
In office
17 September 1966 – 17 December 1982
PresidentNikolai Podgorny[a]
Leonid Brezhnev[a]
Vasili Kuznetsov[a]
Prime MinisterAlexei Kosygin
Nikolai Tikhonov
Preceded byOffice reestablished
Succeeded byVitaly Fedorchuk
Personal details
Born
Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov

26 November 1910
Almazna, Bakhmutsky Uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire
DiedDecember 13, 1984(1984-12-13) (aged 74)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Resting placeVagankovo Cemetery, Moscow
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (1931–1984)
Alma materDzerzhinsky Metallurgical Institute

Nikolai Anisimovich Shchelokov[b] (26 November [O.S. 13 November] 1910 – 13 December 1984) was a Soviet statesman and army general who served sixteen years as minister of internal affairs from 17 September 1966 to 17 December 1982. He was fired from all posts on corruption charges and committed suicide on 13 December 1984.

Early life and education

Shchelokov was born in Almazna, a large Cossack village near Luhansk in Donbas region of Russian Empire, on 26 November 1910.[1]

His father was a mine worker, and Shchelokov himself began working in the mines when he was sixteen years old.[2] He attended Dzerzhinsky Metallurgical Institute and received a bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering in 1933.[1][2]

Career

Communist Party

Shchelokov joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1931.[2] In 1938, he was appointed first secretary of its committee in the Krasnogvardeysky district of Dnipropetrovsk.[3] From 1939 to 1941 he was the chairman of the Dnipropetrovsk City Soviet under Leonid Brezhnev who was the first secretary of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. Since then, Brezhnev and Shchelokov forged very strong ties and continued supporting each other in their political careers until Brezhnev's death.[4]

World War II

At the start of World War II, Shchelokov was promoted to the rank of commissar in the Red Army while remaining the chairman of the City Soviet of Dnipropetrovsk. He served as a political commissar in the army from 1941 to 1946.

Brezhnev's clan

After the war, Shchelokov resumed to work as a politician in Ukraine from 1947 to 1951. He was part of the Dnipropetrovsk Mafia, consisting of several allies to Brezhnev, including Andrei Kirilenko and Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, when Brezhnev was head of the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast party committee, or obkom.[5] Following the appointment of Brezhnev as the first secretary of the Communist Party of Moldavia, Shchelokov followed him, becoming second secretary and Brezhnev's de facto deputy in 1951, and he was also named first deputy premier of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic.[2] In the same period, he became a member in the Supreme Soviet.[6]

Chief of the Soviet Police (1966-1982)

Shchelokov was appointed by Brezhnev as minister of public order on 17 September 1966.[7] On 25 November 1968, the Ministry of Public Order (MOOP) was renamed as Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) with the title of Shchelokov's office renamed accordingly.[4][8] He was promoted to the rank of general on 12 September 1976, while serving as interior minister.[9] He was also the Soviet Union's top police officer.[10] One of Shchelokov's deputies at the ministry was Brezhnev's son-in-law, Yuri Churbanov.[11]

Downfall

Five weeks after the death of Brezhnev, on 17 December 1982, Shchelokov was replaced as interior minister by KGB chairman Vitaly Fedorchuk, a measure seen as influenced by Yuri Andropov, Fedorchuk's predecessor as head of the KGB and newly-elected general secretary of the Communist Party as well as an opponent of the Dnipropetrovsk Mafia.[12][13][14] Shchelokov's dismissal was due to corruption charges against him.[15][16]

After leaving office, Shchelokov began work as chief of a police unit at a gas pipeline construction site in Siberia.[2] On 15 June 1983, he was dismissed from the central committee of the Communist Party on allegations of corruption during his tenure, as part of Andropov's anti-corruption campaign.[17][18] His son Igor was also removed from his post in the Komsomol shortly after.[19] Later reports argued that his wife and son had also been involved in illegal acts of selling and buying foreign cars.[20] It was further argued that Shchelokov spent huge amounts of state money to buy luxury items for personal use.[21] On 6 November 1984, his military rank of army general was withdrawn by the state,[15] and on 7 December he was expelled from the Communist Party.[3] In 1988, author Raul M. Mir-Haidarov argued that Shchelokov had been the godfather of the Uzbek mob.[22]

Death

Shchelokov committed suicide by gunshot to his head using his own hunting rifle from his collection of rarities at his suburban mansion in Moscow on 13 December 1984.[20] He was buried on 15 December in Vagankovo cemetery in Moscow.[23] His wife Svetlana predeceased him having committed suicide on 19 February 1983.[3]

Honours and awards

Shchelokov was awarded the followings: the Order of Lenin (three times), the Order of the Red Banner (twice), the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Second Class), the Order of the Patriotic War (First Class), the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of the Red Star, Hero of Socialist Labour and various medals.[3][1]

He was stripped of all civilian awards and honors on 12 December 1984.[3]

Soviet

Hero of Socialist Labour (25 November 1980)
Order of Lenin, four times (19 June 1965, 30 April 1966, 25 November 1970, 25 November 1980)
Order of the October Revolution (5 January 1978)
Order of the Red Banner, twice (14 April 1945,?)
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class (29 June 1965)
Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class (16 October 1943)
Order of the Red Banner of Labour (23 January 1948)
Order of the Red Star (22 May 1943)
Medal "For Courage" (31 January 1943)
Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" (1944)
Medal "For the Capture of Vienna" (1945)
Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
Medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1945)
Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
Medal "For Excellent Service in the Protection of Public Order", four times
Medal "For Courage in a Fire"
Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (1965)
Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" (1975)
Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" (1969)
Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1976)
Medal "For the Development of Virgin Lands" (1956)
Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1967)
Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (1978)
Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Soviet Militia" (1967)
Medal "For Impeccable Service", 1st class

Foreign

Military Order of the White Lion "For Victory", 2nd class (Czechoslovakia)
War Cross 1939–1945 (Czechoslovakia)
Military Commemorative Medal with 'USSR' clasp (Czechoslovakia)
Patriotic Order of Merit in gold (East Germany)
Order of Sukhbaatar (Mongolia)
Order of Military Merit, twice (Mongolia)
Medal "50 Years of the Mongolian People's Revolution" (Mongolia)
Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Poland)
Cross of Valour (Poland)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c As Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.
  2. ^ Russian: Николай Анисимович Щёлоков; Ukrainian: Микола Онисимович Щолоков

References

  1. ^ a b c "Shchelokov, Nikolai Anisimovich". Great Soviet Encyclopedia. 1979.
  2. ^ a b c d e William A. Clark (1993). Crime and punishment in Soviet officialdom: Combating corruption in the political elite, 1965-1990. Armonk, NY; London: M. E. Sharpe. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-56324-056-0.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Щёлоков Николай Анисимович". Герои Страны (in Russian). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b "Patron-Client Relations". Country Data. May 1989. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  5. ^ Andrei Markevich; Ekaterina Zhuravskaya (November 2009). "Career concerns in a political hierarchy: A case of regional leaders in Soviet Russia". Cefir/Nes. Working Paper series 134: 1–48.
  6. ^ "New Minister". The Sydney Morning Herald. Moscow. 19 September 1966. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  7. ^ Soviet Union: A Country Study (PDF). p. 782.
  8. ^ "The Ministry of Internal Affairs". Intelligence Resource Program. May 1989. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  9. ^ "Soviet security men promoted to general". Eugene Register Guard. Moscow. UPI. 12 September 1976. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Top Aide to Brezhnev Got Costly Gifts, Court Told". Los Angeles Times. Moscow. AP. 6 September 1988. Retrieved 30 March 2013.
  11. ^ Louise I. Shelley (2003). "Russia and Ukraine: Transition or tragedy?". In Roy Godson (ed.). Menace to Society: Political-criminal Collaboration Around the World. New Brunswick, NJ; London: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4128-2848-2.
  12. ^ "K.G.B. Chief Named to New Post; Move against Corruption is Seen". The New York Times. 18 December 1982. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  13. ^ "Former KGB chief dies at 89". USA Today. Moscow. AP. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  14. ^ Stephen White (2011). Understanding Russian Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-139-49683-4.
  15. ^ a b "Ex-Police Minister in Soviet Is Stripped of General's Rank". The New York Times. 7 November 1984. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  16. ^ Steve Goldstein (4 February 1987). "Brezhnev's Son-in-law Arrested By Soviets On Corruption Charges". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  17. ^ "Leningrader Gets High Soviet Party Post". The New York Times. 16 June 1983. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  18. ^ Vasilevich Feofanov; Donald D. Barry (1996). Politics and justice in Russia: Major trials of the post-Stalin era. Armonk, NY; London: M.E. Sharpe. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-7656-3337-8.
  19. ^ "Under Andropov, Policeman's Lot isn't Happy One". The New York Times. 14 August 1983. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  20. ^ a b Stephen White (1993). After Gorbachev. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-521-45896-2.
  21. ^ Karl W. Ryavec (2005). Russian Bureaucracy: Power and Pathology. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 179. ISBN 978-0-8476-9503-4.
  22. ^ Steve Goldstein (24 November 1988). "Unveiling A Mafia In Uzbekistan". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  23. ^ "Ex-General Buried in Moscow". The New York Times. 16 December 1984. Retrieved 3 March 2017.

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