Mikhail Kalinin

Mikhail Ivanovich Kalinin (, ; 19 March 1875 – 3 June 1946)Abdurakhman Avtorkhanov, Stalin and the Soviet Communist Party: A Study in the Technology of Power. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1959; p. 1. was a Russian politician revolutionary who was the head of state of the Soviet Union. First as the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets from 1919 to 1938, then as the first president of the Soviet Union from 1938 to 1946. He is the longest-serving head of state in the country, serving for 27 years.

Although Kalinin was the president, he did not hold any real power especially under Joseph Stalin, whom Kalinin had a very close relationship with. Kalinin was seen as a puppet of Stalin and that Stalin held the real power behind the scenes. In 1946, Kalinin retired from politics and died later that same year. The city of Tver was also known as Kalinin until 1990, when its historic name was restored, one year before the eventual fall of the Soviet Union.

References

Category:1875 births
Category:1946 deaths
Category:Heads of government of the Soviet Union