Romanov first secretary of the Leningrad regional committee. Grigory Romanov: what was the “master” of Leningrad like?

ALL PHOTOS

In St. Petersburg, at the 86th year of his life, a Soviet party and statesman, which for many years was the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU.

He was called one of the most influential politicians of the Soviet era. Romanov's character was harsh and tough, many even compared him to Stalin. And the people of St. Petersburg called the time of his reign a “police regime.”

Romanov led the Leningrad regional party committee for 15 years. From 1970 to 1985 - under the General Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko.

Short in stature and very arrogant, he established strict ideological control over the city. The liberal intelligentsia despised him. First of all, because of the powerful pressure on cultural figures. As Echo of Moscow reminds, Arkady Raikin could not withstand the constant pressure of the Leningrad authorities and, together with his theater, was forced to move to Moscow. And the writer Daniil Granin, already during the years of perestroika, wrote an ironic novel in which a short regional leader turns from constant lies into a dwarf. Everyone immediately recognized this hero as Grigory Romanov.

There were many rumors about Romanov - about his relationship with the popular singer Lyudmila Senchina, although she herself denies this, about dishes from the Hermitage. Then, for several years, the society noisily discussed the service from the Hermitage broken by the guests, and then it turned out that there was no service or wedding in the palace. But this became clear only after the intensity of popular indignation reached its limit.

At the turn of the 80s, Romanov was unofficially considered one of the possible candidates for the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee. Back in 1975, the American magazine Newsweek named him the most likely successor to Leonid Brezhnev. However, Mikhail Gorbachev won the power struggle in March 1985 and Romanov was sent into retirement.

“Andropov told me this: don’t pay attention. We know that nothing like that happened. I say: Yuri Vladimirovich, but you can give information about what didn’t happen! “Okay, we’ll figure it out,” Romanov recalled.

Natalya, the youngest daughter of Grigory Romanov, still lives in St. Petersburg. Doesn't give interviews as a matter of principle. According to her husband, there were only 10 people at their wedding, which took place in 1974 and captured the imagination of thousands of working people. The celebration was very modest. “This, of course, is stupidity. The wedding was at a dacha. A state dacha, by the way. And the next day we left on a ship along the Volga. To travel. There was no Tauride. And there was no Hermitage,” recalls Lev Radchenko.

When the scandal with the mythical wedding subsided, Romanov took up Leningrad. In 10 years, the city built almost 100 million square meters housing. The Leningrad "master" was noticed. Such an active regional leader suited the center.

“He had an exceptional relationship with Brezhnev. About two or three years before Brezhnev’s death, the relationship was very good. He trusted him very much. He himself called Leningrad and home,” recalls Romanov’s second daughter Valentina. But Romanov did not enjoy the General Secretary’s favor for long.

However, in 1983 he was invited to Moscow. The new General Secretary, Yuri Andropov, instructed him to oversee the military-industrial complex. But Second Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev began to appear more and more often next to Andropov - he was entrusted with agriculture. Gorbachev also enjoyed the obvious support of the next general - Konstantin Chernenko.

“Relations were strained between them. We all felt it. And Gorbachev used various methods to not directly, but somehow indirectly present him in a negative form,” former head of the Council of Ministers Vitaly Vorotnikov says about the relationship between Gorbachev and Romanov.

When Chernenko died, Romanov was in the Baltic states. Two other members of the Politburo were also absent. But they decided not to wait and hold an emergency plenum. No one doubted that the next Secretary General would be the one who would be supported by the most influential person in the Politburo - Andrei Gromyko.

Yegor Ligachev undertook to persuade him. “On the eve of the opening of the plenum, Gromyko called me. And he said: Yegor Kuzmich, who will we elect as general secretary? I told him: we need Gorbachev. He says: I also think that we need Gorbachev. And tell me, who could make a proposal? I say: best of all to you, Andrei Andreevich. He says: I also think that I need to make a proposal,” recalls Ligachev.

Romanov’s relationship with Gorbachev and his entourage did not work out. He left the political scene. The official wording is at will and health status. But the “wedding” story haunted even the pensioner Romanov. Before the election of the first president of the USSR, the Supreme Council even created a commission and conducted its own investigation. But they never found anything untoward.

Reference: Grigory Romanov

Grigory Vasilievich Romanov was born in the village of Zikhnovo, now Vorovichi district, Novgorod region. Member of the CPSU since 1944. Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1976-1985); candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1973-1976), secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1983-1985), member of the CPSU Central Committee (1966-1986).

Participant of the Great Patriotic War; from 1946 he worked as a designer, head of the sector of the Central Design Bureau of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry; in 1953 he graduated from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute in absentia; 1954-1961 - secretary of the plant party committee, secretary, first secretary of the Kirov district party committee of Leningrad;

1961-1963 - secretary of the Leningrad city committee, secretary of the regional party committee; 1963-1970 - second secretary, 1970-1983 - first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU; elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 7th-11th convocations; Hero of Socialist Labor; since 1985 - retired.

Grigory Romanov was awarded 3 Orders of Lenin, the Order October Revolution, orders of the Red Banner of Labor, "Badge of Honor" and medals.

St. Petersburg residents owe Romanov the beginning of the construction of the famous dam, designed to protect the city from floods, and the development of the metro - 19 stations were built during this period.

Grigory Romanov was born on February 7, 1923 in the village of Zikhnovo, now Borovichi district of the Novgorod region, into a peasant family. Participant of the Great Patriotic War. He fought as a signalman on the Leningrad and Baltic fronts. Member of the CPSU since 1944. In 1953 he graduated in absentia from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute. In 1946-1954, designer, head of the sector of the Central Design Bureau at the plant named after. A. A. Zhdanova (Leningrad) Ministry of Construction Industry. In 1955-1957, secretary of the party committee, party organizer of the CPSU Central Committee at the same plant.

In 1957-1961 - secretary, first secretary of the Kirov district committee of the CPSU of Leningrad. In 1961-62, Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU. In 1962-1963 secretary, in 1963-1970 second secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU (in 1963-1964 second secretary of the Leningrad Industrial Regional Committee of the CPSU).

From September 16, 1970 to June 21, 1983 - First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU. During this period, a resolution was adopted “On the construction of structures to protect Leningrad from floods” (dams) - after a long break, construction was completed in 2011. Leningrad metro stations are open: Lomonosovskaya, Elizarovskaya, Zvezdnaya, Kupchino, Lesnaya, Vyborgskaya, Akademicheskaya, Politekhnicheskaya, Ploshchad Muzhestva, Leninsky Prospekt, Prospekt Veteranov ", "Civil Avenue", "Komsomolskaya", "Primorskaya", "Proletarskaya", "Obukhovo", "Udelnaya", "Pionerskaya", "Chernaya Rechka".

The construction of the Leningrad Sports and Concert Complex named after. V.I. Lenin. The Palace of Youth was built on the banks of the Malaya Nevka. A monument to V.V. Mayakovsky was erected on the street named after the poet. A research institute for the health of children and adolescents has been opened on Aptekarsky Island. Leningrad switched to seven-digit telephone numbering.

At the 23rd and 24th Congresses of the CPSU he was elected a member of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1973-1976 - candidate member, in 1976-1985 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1983-1985 - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR 7-11 convocations; in 1971-84 - member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

IN public opinion perceived as a hardliner. He was considered as a real contender for the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee after the death of Yu. V. Andropov, but as a result of the behind-the-scenes struggle of factions, a compromise candidate was accepted - the terminally ill K. U. Chernenko, after whose death a candidate from another faction came to power - M. S. Gorbachev, who relied on democratization and openness.

By Decree of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin No. 101 of January 28, 1998, G.V. Romanov was established with a personal pension for his significant contribution to the development of domestic mechanical engineering and the defense industry.

Member of the Central Advisory Council under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.

Grigory Romanov died on June 3, 2008 in Moscow. He was buried on June 6 at the Kuntsevo cemetery.

Performance evaluations

Romanov's statements

Suppression of the dissident movement and dissidents in Leningrad

During Romanov's leadership, Leningrad was actively suppressed various shapes dissident movement:

“Union of Struggle for Personal Freedom” (group of V. A. Dzibalov; 6 people were arrested in 1971); distribution of leaflets calling for a boycott of the elections (Yu. E. Minkovsky was arrested in 1973), in defense of A. I. Solzhenitsyn (L. L. Verdi was arrested in 1974); activities of the “Circle of Friends of Socialist Legality” (O. N. Moskvin was arrested in 1977); protests against the entry Soviet troops to Afghanistan (B.S. Mirkin was arrested in 1981); demonstrations: in memory of the Decembrists at the Bronze Horseman (12/14/1975), artists and writers at the Peter and Paul Fortress (May-June, 1976), in defense of human rights on December 10, 1977, 1978, 1979; inscription on the wall of the Sovereign Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress: “You crucify freedom, but the human soul has no shackles” (Yu. A. Rybakov, O. A. Volkov were arrested in 1976).

Another form was the activity of various independent associations: Leningrad branch of the “Russian Public Fund”, Fund for Assistance to the Families of Political Prisoners (1974-83, managers - V. I. Isakova, V. T. Repin, V. N. Gaenko), independent trade union work (SMOT - Free Interprofessional Association of Workers, created in 1978; L. Ya. Volokhonsky was arrested in 1979, V. E. Borisov was expelled from the country in 1981, V. I. Sytinsky was arrested in 1984); seminar on general systems theory (1968-82, at the apartment of S. Yu. Maslov), women's club"Maria"; religious and philosophical seminar by T. M. Goricheva (1974-80); Christian seminar and publication of the magazine “Community” (1974-79, V. Yu. Poresh was arrested in 1979); editing source Sat. “Memory” (A. B. Roginsky was arrested in 1981); distribution of Seventh-day Adventist publications (I. S. Zvyagin was arrested in 1980, L. K. Nagritskaite in 1981, etc.); apartment art exhibitions (G. N. Mikhailov was arrested in 1979); organization of groups for Hatha yoga classes (A.I. Ivanov was arrested in 1977). A special place occupied by Jewish national associations - the Leningrad Zionist Organization (G. I. Butman, M. S. Korenblit and others were arrested in 1970); seminar of Jewish “refuseniks” (1979-81, E. Lein was arrested in 1981).

Characteristic is the emergence of literature that is not oriented towards censorship. Among its creators are M. R. Kheifets (author of the preface to Brodsky’s collection of poems, arrested in 1974), D. E. Axelrod (author of the novel “The Krasovsky Brothers,” arrested in 1982), poet K. M. Azadovsky (arrested in 1982). For the production and distribution of samizdat and tamizdat, the group of G.V. Davydov - V.V. Petrova (1973), M.M. Klimov (1982), M.B. Meilakh (1983), G.A. Donskoy (1983) were arrested ), M.V. Polyakov (1983); forced to emigrate E. G. Etkind (1976), L. S. Druskin (1980), S. V. Dedyulin (1981), etc.

Awards

  • Hero of Socialist Labor (1983)
  • Three Orders of Lenin
  • Order of the October Revolution
  • Order of the Red Banner of Labor
  • Order of the Badge of Honor
  • Medals

Memory

On May 17, 2011, a memorial plaque to Grigory Romanov was installed on the facade of house 1/5 on Kuibysheva Street in St. Petersburg, which caused a mixed reaction from St. Petersburg residents.

Who is Grigory Romanov?

Among old communists and everyone who greatly regrets the collapse of the USSR and the collapse Soviet power, Grigory Romanov is the very savior and hero who could save everything. It is believed that he would have pursued a conservative line, tightened the screws and continued Brezhnev’s work, prolonging the “Era of Stagnation.” Moreover, he was indeed a very real contender for power and, “according to rumors,” a favorite of Yuri Andropov. Since 1976, he was a member of the Politburo. However, Romanov was famous not for this, but for his thirteen years of ruling the “cradle of the Revolution” - Leningrad. There the period is from 1970 to 1983. sometimes called the "Romanov era".

Romanov was considered a strong business executive and a persecutor of dissent

Assessments of Romanov’s activities differ. Range: from “stormy delight” to “a complete nightmare,” from “outstanding organizer” to “persecutor of all living things.” What is it customary to credit Romanov with as the head of the Leningrad Regional Committee? The rapid development of the metro (19 new stations were opened), the construction of a dam began to protect the city from flooding (completed in 2011), as well as the launch of the Leningrad nuclear power plant, the appearance of the Kirovets tractor and the Arktika icebreaker.

On the other hand, his name was associated with the persecution of any dissent and, especially, with the persecution of all those cultural figures who were not eager to share the party line. Many musicians, writers, and poets had a hard time. Romanov is considered almost personally responsible for the fact that Joseph Brodsky and Sergei Dovlatov had to leave the USSR. Political scientist and journalist Boris Vishnevsky even called Romanov “the Apostle of Stagnation.” Paradoxically, in 1981, it was under Romanov, the first rock club in the Soviet Union opened in Leningrad.

Grigory Romanov

If you compare all this, it turns out quite typical Soviet leader. “A strong businessman” who does not tolerate when something goes against his plans. Another thing is that from the point of view of the nomenclature, Romanov was successful. And in the Politburo he was considered perhaps the main contender for power, especially since the Union was entering the “Five Year Plan” lavish funeral" One after another, the bison of Soviet politics died: Kosygin, Suslov, Brezhnev himself, then Pelshe, Rashidov. Andropov’s hour of death was approaching. Romanov was eight years older than Gorbachev, but significantly younger than Brezhnev’s gerontocrats.

Andropov wanted Romanov to replace him

It was believed that Andropov really wanted Romanov to replace him as General Secretary. Apparently, at that moment, the position of the head of the Leningrad Regional Committee was indeed stronger than ever. But then the Politburo did not dare to go for rejuvenation. Konstantin Chernenko, who went to his grave, was elected General Secretary. He served as head of state for approximately 13 months. Chernenko spent most of this time in the hospital. A couple of times, visiting Politburo meetings were held for him right in the hospital. Chernenko died in March 1985, Gorbachev was appointed chairman of the funeral committee. This is a landmark position. Soviet citizens are already accustomed to the fact that the commission for organizing the funeral of the Secretary General is headed by the future Secretary General. This happened this time too. After this, Romanov's career began to decline. Already on July 1, he was removed from the Politburo, removing him from the post of Secretary of the Central Committee. His place was taken by Eduard Shevardnadze.

Could it have been different?

It could, but earlier. There is an opinion that in the winter of 1984, when Andropov died, Romanov was much stronger than in the spring of 1985, when Chernenko died. Within 13 months the wind had changed. The most influential members of the Politburo either initially did not like Romanov very much, or became disillusioned with him over the course of just over a year. Another important circumstance, which, of course, may be a mere coincidence. At the time of Chernenko’s death, Romanov was not in Moscow. The Secretary of the Central Committee was on vacation in Palanga. That is, the entire struggle for power took place without his participation. Was there even a struggle at all?


Konstantin Chernenko

Afghan war would continue, the Berlin Wall would remain in place

After Andropov’s death, the country was left without a secretary general for almost four days. Andropov died on February 9, and Chernenko took office only on the 13th. In the case of Gorbachev, everything happened much faster. Chernenko died on March 10. Already on the 11th the name of the new Secretary General was announced. Gorbachev's candidacy was personally lobbied by Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, a very influential and authoritative man. It is unknown whether anyone lobbied Romanov in March 1985. But, apparently, he learned about Chernenko’s death only when the Politburo had already decided on the choice of successor. Romanov's main supporter was Andropov. That is, in February 1984, Romanov had a real chance of leading the country, but in the spring of 1985 he no longer had a chance.

What would happen?

It is difficult to say what would have happened, but we can say for sure what would not have happened. There would be no Perestroika, reforms, cooperatives, warming in relations with the West, and so on. The Afghan war would have continued until it stops (although it is difficult to judge where this stop is), the Berlin Wall would have remained in place and would have divided the city in half. The USSR would have buttoned itself up and, using all its resources, would have tried to preserve the empire at any cost. The emphasis in such situations is on the ideological front. The culture would be clamped in a steel vice. No rock wave for you. In this regard, Romanov would do the same thing that Chernenko did - he would strangle him.


Residents of the GDR dismantle the Berlin Wall

How would the Union solve the problems of falling oil prices? Belt tightening and distraction. Romanov loved to build. The Union would take on some large-scale construction project. Perhaps they would remember the idea of ​​diverting the Siberian rivers. But the collapse would have happened anyway. Not in the early 90s, but ten years later. The union was showing a crack that could not be hidden in the foundation of a grandiose construction project. And as soon as this crack became visible to the naked eye, the local elite would have pulled the republics into different sides. Romanov could delay this moment for 8-10 years. That's all.

Death: June 3(2008-06-03 ) (85 years old)
Moscow, Russia Burial place: Moscow, Kuntsevo cemetery Party: CPSU (1944-1991)
Communist Party of the Russian Federation (1993-2008) Education: Military service Years of service: - Affiliation: USSR USSR Type of troops: Signal troops Rank:

: Incorrect or missing image

Battles: defense of Leningrad Awards:

Grigory Vasilievich Romanov( - ) - Soviet party and statesman. Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1976-1985). Candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1973-1976). Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1983-1985), first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU (1970-1983). After the collapse of the USSR, he joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, where he held leadership positions.

Biography

The construction of the Leningrad Sports and Concert Complex named after. V.I. Lenin. The Palace of Youth was built on the banks of the Malaya Nevka. A monument to V.V. Mayakovsky was erected on the street named after the poet. A research institute for the health of children and adolescents has been opened on Aptekarsky Island. On August 21, 1976, Leningrad switched to seven-digit telephone numbering.

In public opinion he was perceived as a supporter of the “hard line”. He was a real contender for the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee after the death of Yu. V. Andropov and the subsequent K. U. Chernenko, however, in the first case, a compromise candidate was elected - the seriously ill Chernenko, after whose death M. S. Gorbachev managed to seize power.

According to Andrei Sidorenko, citing the words of V. M. Chebrikov, it was Romanov who wanted to see Yu. V. Andropov as his successor. At the time of Chernenko's death, Romanov was on vacation in Palanga, Lithuania.

Grigory Romanov died on June 3, 2008 in Moscow. He was buried on June 6 at the Kuntsevo cemetery.

Performance evaluations

In Leningrad, Romanov was called “master.” Because the 13 Romanov years - those that he led the region and the city - are later recognized as the most successful in the life of the region in the entire twentieth century. Under Romanov, more than fifty research and production associations will appear here, a record number of metro stations will be opened, the famous Kirovets tractor and the even more famous icebreaker Arktika, which was the first to reach North Pole. The Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant will be launched. [Valentin Nikiforov], first secretary of the Vyborg district party committee of Leningrad
Grigory Romanov was one of the most odious party leaders and was personally responsible for many abominations committed under his direct leadership and with his highest approval. Boris Vishnevsky, political scientist
The story of Romanov’s personality is noteworthy in that at first it will seem typical for many in Soviet era. The atypicality begins with the manifestation of his remarkable mind as an organizer, capable of realizing the national significance of the current work, like everyone else’s, and raising it to the maximum high level. Organizational talent is a rare phenomenon at all times. He singled out Romanov among many.
He fiercely hated and persecuted all cultural figures who “did not adapt.” Under him, in 1980, the case of the writer and historian Konstantin Azadovsky, who worked as the head of the department, was fabricated foreign languages at the Mukhinsky School. Under him, Sergei Yursky was forced to leave the city. At the same time, the version about the expulsion of Arkady Raikin from Leningrad is not confirmed, since he moved to Moscow on the initiative of his son for the organization of the Satyricon Theater, and such a move would have been impossible without the sanctions of the party leadership of the USSR (Brezhnev), which was given after studying characteristics of the actor issued by the local party authorities (Romanov).

Under Romanov, Joseph Brodsky and Sergei Dovlatov were expelled from the USSR, but such a decision was not made at the level of the city of Leningrad.

Grigory Vasilyevich stated that “almost all Jews are citizens of a country that is a potential enemy” Nina Katerli

He made it so that the entire city center was in communal apartments - because strangers were moving into the vacated rooms. And when he began construction of the dam and Sergei Zalygin wrote in “New World” that the Gulf of Finland would rot, Romanov replied: well, to hell with it, it will rot - so we’ll fill it up... Many musicians, actors, artists under him moved to Moscow - to work under It was impossible for the Romanovs. Yuri Vdovin, human rights activist
Under Romanov, dissident Yuli Rybakov was imprisoned on a trumped-up criminal case; under Romanov, objectionable performances and concerts were banned. It should be noted, however, that it was under Romanov that the first rock opera in the USSR, Orpheus and Eurydice, was staged and continuously performed for ten years (1975-1985), and in 1981 the Leningrad Rock Club opened its doors - the first in the USSR there is a similar freedom-loving institution.
Personally, Grigory Romanov gave the impression of a deeply decent and principled person. He was also distinguished by his evenness in dealing with people, no matter who was in front of him. As far as I know, a kind, warm atmosphere reigned in his family... If Gorbachev had not managed to seize power and commit all his dirty deeds of betraying the interests of the country, if instead of Gorbachev Grigory Romanov had been chosen for the post of General Secretary (and he was from this in one step), then you and I would continue to live in the Soviet Union, of course, reformed, modernized, but prosperous and strong.
During the years when G. V. Romanov headed the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU, there were positive changes that occurred in agriculture, in the sphere of culture, in education and health care Leningrad region. During the thirteen-year period that Romanov headed the region, a number of large agricultural construction projects came into operation here, and a significant step forward was made in the development of industrial poultry farming. The huge buildings of poultry farms and other agro-industrial facilities rightfully became a monument to those years. It is noteworthy that the foundations laid in those years were not only preserved, but also received further development and, moreover, they are multiplying at the present time. Thus, agriculture in the Leningrad region has reached a completely new level. Thanks to the implementation of priority national projects, are used in agro-industrial production latest technologies. Currently, livestock and poultry farming in the Leningrad region are considered one of the most advanced in Russian Federation. A lot was done under Romanov in the field of culture. The system of rural libraries received a significant impetus in development. Houses of culture were built.

Romanov's statements

“Union of Struggle for Personal Freedom” (group of V. A. Dzibalov; 6 people were arrested in 1971); distribution of leaflets calling for a boycott of the elections (Yu. E. Minkovsky was arrested in 1973), in defense of A. I. Solzhenitsyn (L. L. Verdi was arrested in 1974); activities of the “Circle of Friends of Socialist Legality” (O. N. Moskvin was arrested in 1977); protests against the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan (B.S. Mirkin was arrested in 1981); demonstrations: in memory of the Decembrists at the Bronze Horseman (12/14/1975), artists and writers at the Peter and Paul Fortress (May-June, 1976), in defense of human rights on December 10, 1977, 1978, 1979; inscription on the wall of the Sovereign Bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress: “You crucify freedom, but the human soul has no shackles” (Yu. A. Rybakov, O. A. Volkov were arrested in 1976).

Another form was the activity of various independent associations: the Leningrad branch of the Russian Public Fund, the Fund for Assistance to the Families of Political Prisoners (1974-83, managers - V. I. Isakova, V. T. Repin, V. N. Gaenko), independent trade union work ( SMOT - Free Interprofessional Association of Workers, created in 1978; L. Ya. Volokhonsky was arrested in 1979, V. E. Borisov was expelled from the country in 1981, V. I. Sytinsky was arrested in 1984); seminar on general theory of systems (1968-82, at the apartment of S. Yu. Maslov), women's club "Maria"; religious and philosophical seminar by T. M. Goricheva (1974-80); Christian seminar and publication of the magazine “Community” (1974-79, V. Yu. Poresh was arrested in 1979); editing source Sat. “Memory” (A. B. Roginsky was arrested in 1981); distribution of Seventh-day Adventist publications (I. S. Zvyagin was arrested in 1980, L. K. Nagritskaite in 1981, etc.); apartment art exhibitions (G. N. Mikhailov was arrested in 1979); organization of groups for Hatha yoga classes (A.I. Ivanov, preventive conversation held in 1973, continued to engage in criminal activities, arrested in 1977, articles of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR “Private business activity”, “Illegal healing”, “Manufacture or sale of pornographic objects” and “Dissemination of deliberately false fabrications discrediting the Soviet state and social system”, 8,520 rubles of unearned income were confiscated). A special place was occupied by Jewish national associations - the Leningrad Zionist Organization (G. I. Butman, M. S. Korenblit and others were arrested in 1970); seminar of Jewish “refuseniks” (1979-81, E. Lein was arrested in 1981).

Family

Wife (since 1946) - Anna Stepanovna.
Daughter Valentina graduated from Leningrad State University. A. A. Zhdanova, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, taught at the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov, in 1996-1998 Chairman of the Board of Directors of CB Russian Industrial Bank, since 1998 Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bankhaus Erbe AG (in 1992-1998 International Bank of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior), Her husband is O. I. Gaidanov.
Daughter Natalya (married, since 1974, Radchenko).

Awards

  • Hero of Socialist Labor ()
  • Medal "For Military Merit" (10/15/1944)

Memory

Mentions in art

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Notes

  • « Our dear Roman Avdeevich» D. A. Granin (satire on Grigory Romanov)

Excerpt characterizing Romanov, Grigory Vasilievich

“Your Excellency, your Excellency, your Excellency...” the bereitor said stubbornly, without looking at Pierre and, apparently, having lost hope of waking him up, swinging him by the shoulder.
- What? Has it started? Is it time? - Pierre spoke, waking up.
“If you please hear the firing,” said the bereitor, a retired soldier, “all the gentlemen have already left, the most illustrious ones themselves have passed a long time ago.”
Pierre quickly got dressed and ran out onto the porch. It was clear, fresh, dewy and cheerful outside. The sun, having just broken out from behind the cloud that was obscuring it, splashed half-broken rays through the roofs of the opposite street, onto the dew-covered dust of the road, onto the walls of the houses, onto the windows of the fence and onto Pierre’s horses standing at the hut. The roar of the guns could be heard more clearly in the yard. An adjutant with a Cossack trotted down the street.
- It's time, Count, it's time! - shouted the adjutant.
Having ordered his horse to be led, Pierre walked down the street to the mound from which he had looked at the battlefield yesterday. On this mound there was a crowd of military men, and the French conversation of the staff could be heard, and gray head Kutuzov with his white cap with a red band and the gray back of his head sunk into his shoulders. Kutuzov looked through the pipe ahead along the main road.
Entering the entrance steps to the mound, Pierre looked ahead of him and froze in admiration at the beauty of the spectacle. It was the same panorama that he had admired yesterday from this mound; but now this entire area was covered with troops and the smoke of shots, and slanting rays bright sun, rising from behind, to the left of Pierre, threw at her in the clear morning air a piercing light with a golden and pink tint and dark, long shadows. The distant forests that completed the panorama, as if carved from some precious yellow-green stone, were visible with their curved line of peaks on the horizon, and between them, behind Valuev, cut through the great Smolensk road, all covered with troops. Golden fields and copses glittered closer. Troops were visible everywhere - in front, right and left. It was all lively, majestic and unexpected; but what struck Pierre most of all was the view of the battlefield itself, Borodino and the ravine above Kolocheya on both sides of it.
Above Kolocha, in Borodino and on both sides of it, especially to the left, where in the marshy banks Voina flows into Kolocha, there was that fog that melts, blurs and shines through when the bright sun comes out and magically colors and outlines everything visible through it. This fog was joined by the smoke of gunshots, and through this fog and smoke lightning flashed everywhere morning light- sometimes through the water, sometimes through the dew, sometimes along the bayonets of the troops crowding along the banks and in Borodino. Through this fog one could see a white church, here and there the roofs of Borodin's huts, here and there solid masses of soldiers, here and there green boxes and cannons. And it all moved, or seemed to move, because fog and smoke stretched throughout this entire space. Both in this area of ​​the lowlands near Borodino, covered with fog, and outside it, above and especially to the left along the entire line, through forests, across fields, in the lowlands, on the tops of elevations, cannons, sometimes solitary, constantly appeared by themselves, out of nothing, sometimes huddled, sometimes rare, sometimes frequent clouds of smoke, which, swelling, growing, swirling, merging, were visible throughout this space.
These smokes of gunfire and, strange to say, the sounds they made main beauty spectacles.
Puff! - suddenly a round, dense smoke was visible, playing with purple, gray and milky white colors, and boom! – the sound of this smoke was heard a second later.
“Poof poof” - two smokes rose, pushing and merging; and “boom boom” - the sounds confirmed what the eye saw.
Pierre looked back at the first smoke, which he left as a round dense ball, and already in its place there were balls of smoke stretching to the side, and poof... (with a stop) poof poof - three more, four more were born, and for each, with the same arrangements, boom... boom boom boom - beautiful, firm, true sounds answered. It seemed that these smokes were running, that they were standing, and forests, fields and shiny bayonets were running past them. On the left side, across the fields and bushes, these large smokes were constantly appearing with their solemn echoes, and closer still, in the valleys and forests, small gun smokes flared up, not having time to round off, and in the same way gave their little echoes. Tah ta ta tah - the guns crackled, although often, but incorrectly and poorly in comparison with gun shots.
Pierre wanted to be where these smokes were, these shiny bayonets and cannons, this movement, these sounds. He looked back at Kutuzov and his retinue to compare his impressions with others. Everyone was exactly like him, and, as it seemed to him, they were looking forward to the battlefield with the same feeling. All faces now shone with that hidden warmth (chaleur latente) of feeling that Pierre had noticed yesterday and which he understood completely after his conversation with Prince Andrei.
“Go, my dear, go, Christ is with you,” said Kutuzov, without taking his eyes off the battlefield, to the general standing next to him.
Having heard the order, this general walked past Pierre, towards the exit from the mound.
- To the crossing! – the general said coldly and sternly in response to one of the staff asking where he was going. “Both I and I,” thought Pierre and followed the general in the direction.
The general mounted the horse that the Cossack handed him. Pierre approached his rider, who was holding the horses. Having asked which one was quieter, Pierre climbed onto the horse, grabbed the mane, pressed the heels of his outstretched legs to the horse’s belly and, feeling that his glasses were falling off and that he was unable to take his hands off the mane and reins, galloped after the general, exciting the smiles of the staff, from the mound looking at him.

The general, whom Pierre was galloping after, went down the mountain, turned sharply to the left, and Pierre, having lost sight of him, galloped into the ranks of the infantry soldiers walking ahead of him. He tried to get out of them, now to the right, now to the left; but everywhere there were soldiers, with equally preoccupied faces, busy with some invisible, but obviously important matter. Everyone looked at this fat man in a white hat with the same dissatisfied, questioning look, who for some unknown reason was trampling them with his horse.
- Why is he driving in the middle of the battalion! – one shouted at him. Another pushed his horse with the butt, and Pierre, clinging to the bow and barely holding the darting horse, jumped out in front of the soldier, where there was more space.
There was a bridge ahead of him, and other soldiers stood at the bridge, shooting. Pierre drove up to them. Without knowing it, Pierre drove to the bridge over Kolocha, which was between Gorki and Borodino and which the French attacked in the first action of the battle (having occupied Borodino). Pierre saw that there was a bridge in front of him and that on both sides of the bridge and in the meadow, in those rows of lying hay that he had noticed yesterday, soldiers were doing something in the smoke; but, despite the incessant shooting that took place in this place, he did not think that this was the battlefield. He did not hear the sounds of bullets screaming from all sides, or shells flying over him, he did not see the enemy who was on the other side of the river, and for a long time he did not see the dead and wounded, although many fell not far from him. With a smile never leaving his face, he looked around him.
- Why is this guy driving in front of the line? – someone shouted at him again.
“Take it left, take it right,” they shouted to him. Pierre turned to the right and unexpectedly moved in with the adjutant of General Raevsky, whom he knew. This adjutant looked angrily at Pierre, obviously intending to shout at him too, but, recognizing him, nodded his head to him.
- How are you here? – he said and galloped on.
Pierre, feeling out of place and idle, afraid to interfere with someone again, galloped after the adjutant.
- This is here, what? Can I come with you? - he asked.
“Now, now,” answered the adjutant and, galloping up to the fat colonel standing in the meadow, he handed him something and then turned to Pierre.
- Why did you come here, Count? - he told him with a smile. -Are you all curious?
“Yes, yes,” said Pierre. But the adjutant, turning his horse, rode on.
“Thank God here,” said the adjutant, “but on Bagration’s left flank there is a terrible heat going on.”
- Really? asked Pierre. - Where is this?
- Yes, come with me to the mound, we can see from us. “But our battery is still bearable,” said the adjutant. - Well, are you going?
“Yes, I’m with you,” said Pierre, looking around him and looking for his guard with his eyes. Here, only for the first time, Pierre saw the wounded, wandering on foot and carried on stretchers. In the same meadow with fragrant rows of hay through which he drove yesterday, across the rows, his head awkwardly turned, one soldier lay motionless with a fallen shako. - Why wasn’t this raised? - Pierre began; but, seeing the stern face of the adjutant, looking back in the same direction, he fell silent.
Pierre did not find his guard and, together with his adjutant, drove down the ravine to the Raevsky mound. Pierre's horse lagged behind the adjutant and shook him evenly.
“Apparently you’re not used to riding a horse, Count?” – asked the adjutant.
“No, nothing, but she’s jumping around a lot,” Pierre said in bewilderment.
“Eh!.. yes, she’s wounded,” said the adjutant, “right front, above the knee.” It must be a bullet. Congratulations, Count,” he said, “le bapteme de feu [baptism by fire].
Having driven through the smoke through the sixth corps, behind the artillery, which, pushed forward, was firing, deafening with its shots, they arrived at a small forest. The forest was cool, quiet and smelled of autumn. Pierre and the adjutant dismounted from their horses and entered the mountain on foot.
- Is the general here? – asked the adjutant, approaching the mound.
“We were there now, let’s go here,” they answered him, pointing to the right.
The adjutant looked back at Pierre, as if not knowing what to do with him now.
“Don’t worry,” said Pierre. – I’ll go to the mound, okay?
- Yes, go, you can see everything from there and it’s not so dangerous. And I'll pick you up.
Pierre went to the battery, and the adjutant went further. They did not see each other again, and much later Pierre learned that this adjutant’s arm was torn off that day.
The mound that Pierre entered was the famous one (later known among the Russians under the name of the kurgan battery, or Raevsky’s battery, and among the French under the name la grande redoute, la fatale redoute, la redoute du center [the great redoubt, the fatal redoubt, the central redoubt ] a place around which tens of thousands of people are placed and which the French considered the most important point positions.
This redoubt consisted of a mound on which ditches were dug on three sides. In a place dug in by ditches there were ten firing cannons, stuck out into the opening of the shafts.
There were cannons lined up with the mound on both sides, also firing incessantly. A little behind the guns stood infantry troops. Entering this mound, Pierre did not think that this place, dug in with small ditches, on which several cannons stood and fired, was the most important place in the battle.
To Pierre, on the contrary, it seemed that this place (precisely because he was on it) was one of the most insignificant places of the battle.
Entering the mound, Pierre sat down at the end of the ditch surrounding the battery, and with an unconsciously joyful smile looked at what was happening around him. From time to time, Pierre still stood up with the same smile and, trying not to disturb the soldiers who were loading and rolling guns, constantly running past him with bags and charges, walked around the battery. The guns from this battery fired continuously one after another, deafening with their sounds and covering the entire area with gunpowder smoke.
In contrast to the creepiness that was felt between the covering infantry soldiers, here on the battery, where small quantity people busy with business, whitely limited, separated from others by a ditch - here one felt the same and common to everyone, like a family revival.
The appearance of the non-military figure of Pierre in a white hat initially struck these people unpleasantly. The soldiers, passing by him, glanced sideways at his figure in surprise and even fear. The senior artillery officer, a tall, long-legged, pockmarked man, as if to watch the action of the last gun, approached Pierre and looked at him curiously.
A young, round-faced officer, still a complete child, apparently just released from the corps, very diligently disposing of the two guns entrusted to him, addressed Pierre sternly.
“Mister, let me ask you to leave the road,” he told him, “it’s not allowed here.”
The soldiers shook their heads disapprovingly, looking at Pierre. But when everyone was convinced that this man in a white hat not only did nothing wrong, but either sat quietly on the slope of the rampart, or with a timid smile, courteously avoiding the soldiers, walked along the battery under gunfire as calmly as along the boulevard, then Little by little, the feeling of hostile bewilderment towards him began to turn into affectionate and playful sympathy, similar to that which soldiers have for their animals: dogs, roosters, goats and in general animals living with military commands. These soldiers immediately mentally accepted Pierre into their family, appropriated them and gave him a nickname. “Our master” they nicknamed him and laughed affectionately about him among themselves.
One cannonball exploded into the ground two steps away from Pierre. He, cleaning the soil splashed by the cannonball from his dress, looked around him with a smile.
- And why aren’t you afraid, master, really! - the red-faced, broad soldier turned to Pierre, baring his strong white teeth.
-Are you afraid? asked Pierre.
- How then? - answered the soldier. - After all, she will not have mercy. She will smack and her guts will be out. “You can’t help but be afraid,” he said, laughing.
Several soldiers with cheerful and affectionate faces stopped next to Pierre. It was as if they did not expect him to speak like everyone else, and this discovery delighted them.
- Our business is soldierly. But master, it’s so amazing. That's it master!
- To your places! - the young officer shouted at the soldiers gathered around Pierre. This young officer, apparently, was fulfilling his position for the first or second time and therefore treated both the soldiers and the commander with particular clarity and formality.
The rolling fire of cannons and rifles intensified throughout the entire field, especially to the left, where Bagration’s flashes were, but because of the smoke of the shots, it was impossible to see almost anything from the place where Pierre was. Moreover, observing the seemingly family (separated from all others) circle of people who were on the battery absorbed all of Pierre’s attention. His first unconscious joyful excitement, produced by the sight and sounds of the battlefield, was now replaced, especially after the sight of this lonely soldier lying in the meadow, by another feeling. Now sitting on the slope of the ditch, he observed the faces surrounding him.
By ten o'clock twenty people had already been carried away from the battery; two guns were broken, shells hit the battery more and more often, and long-range bullets flew in, buzzing and whistling. But the people who were at the battery did not seem to notice this; Cheerful talk and jokes were heard from all sides.
- Chinenka! - the soldier shouted at the approaching grenade flying with a whistle. - Not here! To the infantry! – another added with laughter, noticing that the grenade flew over and hit the covering ranks.
- What, friend? - another soldier laughed at the man who crouched under the flying cannonball.
Several soldiers gathered at the rampart, looking at what was happening ahead.
“And they took off the chain, you see, they went back,” they said, pointing across the shaft.
“Mind your job,” the old non-commissioned officer shouted at them. “We’ve gone back, so it’s time to go back.” - And the non-commissioned officer, taking one of the soldiers by the shoulder, pushed him with his knee. There was laughter.
- Roll towards the fifth gun! - they shouted from one side.
“At once, more amicably, in the burlatsky style,” the cheerful cries of those changing the gun were heard.
“Oh, I almost knocked off our master’s hat,” the red-faced joker laughed at Pierre, showing his teeth. “Eh, clumsy,” he added reproachfully to the cannonball that hit the wheel and the man’s leg.
- Come on, you foxes! - another laughed at the bending militiamen entering the battery behind the wounded man.
- Isn’t the porridge tasty? Oh, the crows, they slaughtered! - they shouted at the militia, who hesitated in front of the soldier with a severed leg.
“Something else, kid,” they mimicked the men. – They don’t like passion.
Pierre noticed how after each cannonball that hit, after each loss, the general revival flared up more and more.
As if from an approaching thundercloud, more and more often, lighter and brighter, lightning of a hidden, flaring fire flashed on the faces of all these people (as if in rebuff to what was happening).
Pierre did not look forward to the battlefield and was not interested in knowing what was happening there: he was completely absorbed in the contemplation of this increasingly flaring fire, which in the same way (he felt) was flaring up in his soul.
At ten o'clock the infantry soldiers who were in front of the battery in the bushes and along the Kamenka River retreated. From the battery it was visible how they ran back past it, carrying the wounded on their guns. Some general with his retinue entered the mound and, after talking with the colonel, looked angrily at Pierre, went down again, ordering the infantry cover stationed behind the battery to lie down so as to be less exposed to shots. Following this, a drum and command shouts were heard in the ranks of the infantry, to the right of the battery, and from the battery it was visible how the ranks of the infantry moved forward.
Pierre looked through the shaft. One face in particular caught his eye. It was an officer who, with a pale young face, walked backwards, carrying a lowered sword, and looked around uneasily.
The rows of infantry soldiers disappeared into the smoke, and their prolonged screams and frequent gunfire could be heard. A few minutes later, crowds of wounded and stretchers passed from there. Shells began to hit the battery even more often. Several people lay uncleaned. The soldiers moved more busily and more animatedly around the guns. Nobody paid attention to Pierre anymore. Once or twice they shouted at him angrily for being on the road. The senior officer, with a frowning face, moved with large, fast steps from one gun to another. The young officer, flushed even more, commanded the soldiers even more diligently. The soldiers fired, turned, loaded, and did their job with tense panache. They bounced as they walked, as if on springs.
A thundercloud had moved in, and the fire that Pierre had been watching burned brightly in all their faces. He stood next to the senior officer. The young officer ran up to the elder officer, with his hand on his shako.
- I have the honor to report, Mr. Colonel, there are only eight charges, would you order to continue firing? – he asked.
- Buckshot! - Without answering, the senior officer shouted, looking through the rampart.
Suddenly something happened; The officer gasped and, curling up, sat down on the ground, like a shot bird in flight. Everything became strange, unclear and cloudy in Pierre’s eyes.
One after another, the cannonballs whistled and hit the parapet, the soldiers, and the cannons. Pierre, who had not heard these sounds before, now only heard these sounds alone. To the side of the battery, on the right, the soldiers were running, shouting “Hurray,” not forward, but backward, as it seemed to Pierre.
The cannonball hit the very edge of the shaft in front of which Pierre stood, sprinkled earth, and a black ball flashed in his eyes, and at the same instant it smacked into something. The militia who had entered the battery ran back.
- All with buckshot! - the officer shouted.
The non-commissioned officer ran up to the senior officer and in a frightened whisper (as a butler reports to his owner at dinner that there is no more wine required) said that there were no more charges.
- Robbers, what are they doing! - the officer shouted, turning to Pierre. The senior officer's face was red and sweaty, his frowning eyes sparkling. – Run to the reserves, bring the boxes! - he shouted, angrily looking around Pierre and turning to his soldier.
“I’ll go,” said Pierre. The officer, without answering him, walked in the other direction with long steps.
– Don’t shoot... Wait! - he shouted.
The soldier, who was ordered to go for the charges, collided with Pierre.
“Eh, master, there’s no place for you here,” he said and ran downstairs. Pierre ran after the soldier, going around the place where the young officer was sitting.
One, another, a third cannonball flew over him, hitting in front, from the sides, from behind. Pierre ran downstairs. "Where am I going?" - he suddenly remembered, already running up to the green boxes. He stopped, undecided whether to go back or forward. Suddenly a terrible shock threw him back to the ground. At the same instant, the brilliance of a large fire illuminated him, and at the same instant a deafening thunder, crackling and whistling sound rang in his ears.
Pierre, having woken up, was sitting on his backside, leaning his hands on the ground; the box he was near was not there; only green burnt boards and rags were lying on the scorched grass, and the horse, shaking its shaft with fragments, galloped away from him, and the other, like Pierre himself, lay on the ground and squealed shrilly, protractedly.

Pierre, unconscious from fear, jumped up and ran back to the battery, as the only refuge from all the horrors that surrounded him.
While Pierre was entering the trench, he noticed that no shots were heard at the battery, but some people were doing something there. Pierre did not have time to understand what kind of people they were. He saw the senior colonel lying with his back to him on the rampart, as if examining something below, and he saw one soldier he noticed, who, breaking forward from the people holding his hand, shouted: “Brothers!” – and saw something else strange.
But he had not yet had time to realize that the colonel had been killed, that the one shouting “brothers!” There was a prisoner who, in front of his eyes, was bayoneted in the back by another soldier. As soon as he ran into the trench, a thin, yellow, sweaty-faced man in a blue uniform, with a sword in his hand, ran at him, shouting something. Pierre, instinctively defending himself from the push, since they, without seeing, ran away from each other, put out his hands and grabbed this man (it was French officer) with one hand on the shoulder, the other on the proud. The officer, releasing his sword, grabbed Pierre by the collar.

Yesterday it became known that Grigory Romanov, a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee from 1976 to 1985, who was considered a rival of Mikhail Gorbachev in the mid-1980s, died. Eyewitnesses of those events are confident that the victory of Comrade Romanov in the internal party struggle would mean the preservation of the USSR.


Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov was born on February 7, 1923 in the village of Zikhnovo (Novgorod region). To the Great Patriotic War served as a signalman. After the war, he graduated from the shipbuilding institute and worked at the Leningrad Zhdanov plant, where his party career began in 1955. Since 1970 - first secretary Leningrad Regional Committee CPSU. Since 1973 - candidate, since 1976 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. Since 1983 - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Retired since July 1985.

In the mid-1980s, Grigory Romanov was considered the main rival of Mikhail Gorbachev for the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. This was confirmed to Kommersant, in particular, by Anatoly Lukyanov (member of the Central Audit Commission, hereinafter the positions for 1985 are indicated.— "Ъ"). Grigory Romanov, as Comrade Lukyanov emphasizes, “was the first on the list of members of the Politburo,” which included Yuri Andropov (General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1982-1984.— "Ъ") "intended to advance to general secretaries". Former deputy of Grigory Romanov, Vladimir Khodyrev (in 1985, head of the Leningrad executive committee) claims that "when he was transferred for promotion to Moscow, he had every chance of becoming general secretary, but then Gorbachev chatted everyone up, and the West was afraid of him, this also played a role."

Let us note that Grigory Romanov was considered a strong political player even before Mikhail Gorbachev appeared in Moscow. Western Kremlinologists remembered Comrade Romanov among the possible successors of Leonid Brezhnev back in the late 1970s. At the same time, a rumor was started about Comrade Romanov, which in the 1990s would have been assessed as a classic example of black PR. Allegedly, the first secretary of the Leningrad regional committee celebrated his wedding on a grand scale youngest daughter in the Tauride Palace, and at the height of the celebration for the health of the young people, they smashed an antique service from the Hermitage. During the times of glasnost, this story came out again, but no reliable evidence of this was found. “And all these slander, that when he gave his daughter in marriage, he took sets from the Hermitage for the wedding, were slander,” which was spread “for the purpose of discrediting,” Comrade Lukyanov claims.

Those who worked with Grigory Romanov in Leningrad note his administrative abilities and energy. “He lived for the city, the country, and was a very talented and capable organizer,” said Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Viktor Lobko (from 1978 to 1983 - first secretary of the Kronstadt district committee of the CPSU). “Under Romanov, a comprehensive plan for the social development of Leningrad until 2005 was developed, according to which the Chinese are now developing Shanghai one by one,” says Comrade Khodyrev. “It was Romanov who was the ideologist of the unification of the city and the Leningrad region and lobbied in the Politburo and the Council of Ministers for the creation of a united police, united vocational education and land committees,” says Boris Petrov (leader of the Leningrad Komsomol).

The responses about Comrade Romanov’s attitude towards the creative intelligentsia are more contradictory. Galina Mshanskaya, who has worked at Leningrad Television since 1961, told Kommersant that under Romanov in Leningrad there were blacklists of artists who were denied access to television and radio airwaves. This list included, in particular, popular foreign singers. In addition, Sergei Yursky and Arkady Raikin were secretly banned. Natella Tovstonogov, the sister of the main director of the BDT Georgy Tovstonogov, told Kommersant that “It was very difficult for Tovstonogov under Romanov, because of this his heart was damaged. A KGB car followed him from the theater to his home, our apartment 24 hours a day Romanov did not call Tovstonogov to the carpet, but when asked why he did not attend the performances, he told him: “Be grateful that I don’t go, otherwise I would have banned a lot of things.”

However, the granddaughter of Dmitry Likhachev, journalist of the St. Petersburg “Vesti” Zinaida Kurbatova, says that “Romanov was not such a monster as many people think. Grandfather went to see him more than once, he recalled that a podium was installed in Romanov’s office so that he always towered over his interlocutor. But despite this, grandfather managed to come to an agreement with him.”

According to eyewitnesses of the events of the mid-1980s, the victory of Grigory Romanov would have meant a fundamentally different scenario for the USSR. Comrade Lukyanov is confident that he “would firmly defend the socialist choice and the Soviet system,” and also “would take all measures and would not allow the deliberate collapse of Soviet Union". Valentin Kuptsov (secretary of the Vologda regional committee) also believes that “under Secretary General Romanov, “we would have been a strong union state to this day.”

It is now difficult to say how true these statements are. The confrontation between Mikhail Gorbachev and Grigory Romanov was a classic example of a “battle of bulldogs under the rug,” in which issues of ideology may not have had the fundamental importance now attributed to them. Rather, the fact that Mikhail Gorbachev was considered a more negotiable and willing to compromise person played a role. And the current complaints about how the election of Grigory Romanov would benefit the USSR can be considered a collective self-justification for the choice in favor of Mikhail Gorbachev.

In March 1985, Comrade Gorbachev became General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and on July 1, 1985, Comrade Romanov was removed from the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and retired “for health reasons.” After this, Comrade Romanov was in active political activity was not noticed.

Anna Kommersant-Pushkarskaya, St. Petersburg; Viktor Kommersant-Khamraev



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