Alexei Kosygin

He got married to Claudia Andreyevna Krivosheina in 1927 and had a child Lyudmila Alexeevna, with her.

In October 1980, he was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack.

After he breathed his last, none of his Politburo colleagues or former aids visited him. As he passed away on the eve of Brezhnev’s birthday, the information of Kosygin’s death was officially spread only after three days so that people could remain festive.

Hailing from a working class family of St. Petersburg, Russia, Alexei Kosygin was the son of Nikolai Kosygin, a technician at Lessner plant, and Matrona Alexandrovna.

He lost his mother when he was very young. In 1919, he became a part of the Labor Army whose leader was Trotsky. After joining the Soviet Communist Party in 1921, he received necessary support for his education from the party as a reward of his loyalty and commitment.

In 1924, he completed his graduation from the Leningrad Cooperative Technical Institute. In the same year, he started a small British-Russian joint-venture for digging and selling Siberian gold. He continued his business till 1927.

After returning to St. Petersburg, he attended Leningrad Institute of Textile Industry from 1930 to 1935. He graduated as an Engineer from this institute.

After completing his education, he served for the Chair of Leningrad City Department of Industry. In 1937, he took-up the responsibility of the director of the October Spinning Mill.

In the year 1938, he became Mayor of Leningrad. After becoming minister of the textile industry in 1939, he achieved the position of the Vice-Chairman of the U.S.S.R. Supreme Economic Council.

To save the civilians of Leningrad (encircled by the Nazi Wermacht and the Finnish Army) during the summer of 1941, he developed “Road of Life”, an ice transport route across Lake Ladoga.

For his great contribution in evacuating the civilians of Leningrad, he was made the Premier of the Russian Federation. From 1943 to 1946, he served as the Prime Minister of Russia.

The turning point of his career came while working as Joseph Stalin’s minister of finance in 1948.

This influential statesman was popular for his ability to memorize large volumes of data. Moreover, he had an expertise in mathematical calculations without using any computing device.

In 1980, when this powerful personality was hospitalized after illness, he was forced to write his resignation. According to witnesses, a few minutes before his death, he was mumbling the numbers of the new five-year plan for Soviet’s economic development.