Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (;  in Kukarka – November 8, 1986 in Moscow) was a Soviet politician and diplomat who served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1930 to 1941. He was a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he came to power.  He worked for Joseph Stalin from 1924 to 1953, when Stalin died, and for Georgy Malenkov from March to September 1953. Molotov worked for Nikita Khrushchev until Khrushchev dismissed him from office in 1956.

Molotov was the main Soviet signatory of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. The pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, and both countries promised not to attack each other. The pact lasted about two years until Germany started its invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

The Molotov cocktail, which was invented by Finns fighting in the Winter War against the Soviet invasion of Finland, is named after him. 

Category:1890 births
Category:1986 deaths
Category:Ambassadors of the Soviet Union
Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Category:Soviet people of World War II
Category:Heads of government of the Soviet Union