First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Перший Секретар ЦК КПУ, Russian: Первый Секретарь ЦК КПУ) was a party leader of the republican branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The office's name alternated throughout its history between First Secretary and the General Secretary.

First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Первый Секретарь ЦК КПУ
Перший Секретар ЦК КПУ
Final officeholder
Stanislav Hurenko

23 June 1990 – 30 August 1991
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
StyleComrade First Secretary
StatusParty leader (republican level)
Member ofPolitburo
Secretariat
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
ResidenceBankova Street
SeatKyiv, Ukrainian SSR
AppointerCentral Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Constituting instrumentParty statutes
Formation
  • Secretary of the Organizational Bureau:
    20 April 1918
  • Secretary:
    12 July 1918
  • First Secretary:
    23 November 1920
    • General Secretary:
      20 March 1925 – 23 January 1934
First holderMykola Skrypnyk
as Secretary of the Organizational Bureau
Georgy Pyatakov
as First Secretary
Final holderStanislav Gurenko
as First Secretary
Abolished30 August 1991[1]
Succession
DeputySecond Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine

The secretary was the de facto leader of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic through Article 6 of the Soviet Constitution, which made the Communist Party of the Soviet Union the "leading and guiding force of the Soviet society". These powers were revoked with the revision to Article 6 on 24 October 1990 that removed the Communist Party's monopoly on power.[2]

The First Secretary was elected at a plenum (plenary session) of the Central Committee, while each Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine was elected at the each Party's Congress. The longest serving secretary was Volodymyr Shcherbytsky[3] with some 17 years.

Name change

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  • 1918–1920 Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
  • 1920–1921 First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
  • 1921–1921 Responsible Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
  • 1921–1925 First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
  • 1925–1934 General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
  • 1934–1991 First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine

Historical scope

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The post of Secretary was elected by a plenum (plenary session) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine beginning since July 1918. Until 1920 it was a single post of the Central Committee Secretariat. In 1920 Nikolay Bestchetvertnoi was dismissed as the secretary and the Provisional Bureau of the Central Committee elected Stanislav Kosior as the Party's Secretary.

Later in 1920 there were introduced a post of the Second Secretary which acted as a deputy of the First Secretary. In 1921 after Vyacheslav Molotov was dismissed as the First Secretary, he was replaced with Feliks Kon as the Responsible Secretary. Kon became the only party official with such title which he held until end of 1921. Starting with 1921 beside the First and the Second secretaries, there were elected some additional secretaries, first of which became Stanislav Kosior.

In March 1925 on a statement of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine the post held by Emanuil Kviring had changed its name to the General Secretary. Less than a month later a plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine reelected the party's leader Lazar Kaganovich with the new title name. In January of 1934 Stanislav Kosior was elected as the First Secretary returning to previous name which has been kept until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

From 1927 to 1930, the Communist Party of Ukraine also had posts of a candidate to Secretariat members. Between 1931 and 1932 there were secretaries for specific types of industry as well as a separate secretary for the Donbas (Ivan Akulov). In June of 1937 there was introduced a post of the Third Secretary which existed until January of 1949. In May of 1940 a practice of electing a secretary for specifically assigned industry was renewed and continued throughout the World War II until the next planum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine in January of 1949.

Until 1952 the Communist Party of Ukraine was officially known as the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine (CP(b)U).

List of first and second secretaries

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No. Portrait Name[4]
(Born-Died)
Term of office Second Congress[5]
Took office Left office Time in office
1Georgy Pyatakov
(1890–1937)
12 July 19189 September 191859 daysNone1
2Serafima Hopner
(1880–1966)
9 September 191822 October 191843 daysNone1
3Emanuel Kviring
(1888–1937)
23 October 19186 March 1919134 daysNone2
(1)Georgy Pyatakov
(1890–1937)
6 March 191930 May 191985 daysNone3
4Stanislav Kosior
(1889–1939)
30 May 191910 December 1919194 daysNone3
Rafail Farbman
(1893–1966)
Acting
10 December 191923 March 1920104 daysNone3
5Nikolay Bestchetvertnoi
(1895–1937)
23 March 192025 March 19202 daysNone4
Stanislav Kosior
(1889–1939)
Acting
25 March 192017 October 1920206 daysNone4
6Vyacheslav Molotov
(1890–1986)
23 November 192022 March 1921119 daysDmitriy Lebed5
Feliks Kon
(1864–1941)
Acting
22 March 192113 December 1921266 daysDmitriy Lebed5
7Dmitry Manuilsky
(1883–1959)
14 December 192110 April 19231 year, 117 daysDmitriy Lebed6
(3)Emanuel Kviring
(1888–1937)
10 April 19237 April 19251 year, 362 daysDmitriy Lebed
Aleksei Medvedev
Ivan Klimenko
7
8
8Lazar Kaganovich
(1893–1991)
7 April 192514 July 19283 years, 98 daysIvan Klimenko
Aleksei Medvedev
8
9
10
(4)Stanislav Kosior
(1889–1939)
14 July 192827 January 19389 years, 197 daysAleksei Medvedev
Lavrentiy Kartvelishvili
Vasiliy Stroganov
Mendel Khatayevich
Pavel Postyshev
Mendel Khatayevich
Sergei Kudryavtsev
10
11
12
13
Nikita Khrushchev
(1894–1971)
Acting
27 January 193818 June 1938142 daysMykhailo Burmystenko
(Acting)
13
9Nikita Khrushchev
(1894–1971)
18 June 19383 March 19478 years, 258 daysDemyan Korotchenko13
14
(8)Lazar Kaganovich
(1893–1991)
3 March 194726 December 1947298 daysDemyan Korotchenko15
(9)Nikita Khrushchev
(1894–1971)
26 December 194716 December 19491 year, 355 daysLeonid Melnikov15
16
10Leonid Melnikov
(1906–1981)
16 December 19494 June 19533 years, 170 daysAleksei Kirichenko16
17
11Alexei Kirichenko
(1908–1975)
4 June 195326 December 19574 years, 205 daysNikolai Podgorny17
18
19
12Nikolai Podgorny
(1903–1983)
26 December 19572 July 19635 years, 188 daysLeontiy Naidek
Ivan Kazanets
19
20
21
13Petro Shelest
(1908–1996)
2 July 196325 May 19728 years, 328 daysNikolai Sobol
Oleksandr Liashko
Ivan Lutak
21
22
23
14Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
(1918–1990)
25 May 197228 September 198917 years, 95 daysIvan Lutak
Ivan Sokolov
Oleksiy Titarenko
Vladimir Ivashko
23
24
25
26
15Vladimir Ivashko
(1932–1994)
28 September 198923 June 1990299 daysStanislav Hurenko27
16Stanislav Hurenko
(1936–2013)
23 June 199030 August 19911 year, 68 daysLeonid Kravchuk
Hryhoriy Kharchenko
28

Other members of Secretariat

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Third Secretary

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Other Secretaries

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Candidates to the Secretariat

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  • Nikolay Donenko (9 April 1929 – 18 November 1929)
  • Olga Pilatskaya (9 April 1929 – 15 June 1930)
  • Andrei Khvylia (9 April 1929 – 15 June 1930)
  • Vladimir Chernyavskiy (21 November 1929 – 15 June 1930)

References

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