Nikolai Voznesensky

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Nikolai Alekseevich Voznesensky (Russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Вознесе́нский, 1903 – 1950) was the Soviet economic planner who oversaw the running of Gosplan during the Great Patriotic War. A protégé of Andrei Zhdanov, Voznesensky was appointed Deputy Premier in May 1940 at the age of thirty-eight^[1]. He was directly involved in the recovery of production associated with the movement of industry eastwards at the start of the war. His work The Economy of the USSR during World War II ^[2] is his account of these years.

Following the war, however, his ideas on measuring and managing Soviet economic activity were at odds with Stalin's views, and his instrumental role in reorganizing Leningrad's economic structure before the war led to his persecution during the Leningrad Affair. He was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death after rivals and colleagues condemned him in a show trial.

The manner of his death is unclear. There are some claims that he died from exposure, having been driven overnight between two prisons in the back of a van, half-naked; other sources indicate that he was shot.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ Simon Sebag Montefiore, Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar, Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 2003, p.310. ISBN 1400042305
2. ^ Washington, DC: Public Affairs Press, 1948.
3. ^ Britannica article

[edit] See also

• Leningrad Affair
• Ministries of the Soviet Union