Petro Shelest

Petro Yukhymovych Shelest (Ukrainian: Петро Юхимович Шелест; Russian: Пётр Ефи́мович Ше́лест) (February 14, 1908 – January 22, 1996) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR.

Petro Shelest Пётр Ефи́мович Ше́лест Петро Юхимович Шелест
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine
In office 23 June 1963 – 19 May 1972
Preceded by	Nikolai Podgorny
Succeeded by	Volodymyr Shcherbytsky
Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
In office 19 May 1972 – 7 May 1973
Premier	Alexei Kosygin
Full member of the 22nd, 23rd, 24th Politburo
In office 16 November 1964 – 27 April 1973
Personal details
Born	Petro Yukhymovych Shelest (1908-02-14)14 February 1908 Andriivtsi, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
Died	22 January 1996(1996-01-22) (aged 87) Moscow Oblast, Russia
Nationality	Soviet Ukrainian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1928-1973)
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Petro Shelest was born in a peasant Ukrainian family in a village near Kharkiv in 1908. In 1928 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in 1935 graduated from Mariupol' Metallurgical Institute.

Between 1943 and 1954 Shelest was a chief manager of several large factories in Leningrad and Kyiv. Between 1954 and 1962 he was the Mayor of Kyiv in addition to becoming a secretary of the Ukrainian Communist party. Soon he was promoted to the top position of first secretary of the Communist party of Ukrainian SSR and led it between 1963 and 1972. During his tenure and due to his cautious encouragement, there was a brief yet noticeable resurgence of the Ukrainian national culture. In 1968, Shelest was awarded the "Hero of Socialist Labor" title.

In 1972 he became deputy chairman of the Sovmin (USSR Council of Ministers). Shelest himself believed that his appointment was a result of the intrigues initiated by Brezhnev. In his memoirs, Shelest denounces his successor Shcherbitsky and Brezhnev as "intriguers" and criticized their style of government as "autocratic" and "non-comnunist". He found it hard do adapt to his new duties and resigned in 1973, citing health problems.[1]

From 1973 to 1985 Shelest worked as a manager of an aircraft design bureau near Moscow. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he visited Ukraine several times and delivered lectures about his tenure as the Ukrainian leader. He died in Moscow in 1996.