Vladimir Semichastny
| Vladimir Semichastny Владимир Семичастный | |
|---|---|
 Vladimir Semichastny with intelligence officers | |
| 3rd Chairman of the Committee for State Security (KGB) | |
|
In office November 13, 1961 – May 18, 1967 | |
| Premier |
Nikita Khrushchev Alexei Kosygin |
| Preceded by | Alexander Shelepin |
| Succeeded by | Yuri Andropov |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny 15 January 1924 village Hryhorivka, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Soviet Ukraine |
| Died |
12 January 2001 (aged 76) Moscow, Russian Federation |
| Citizenship | Soviet (until 1991) and Russian |
| Nationality | Russian |
| Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny (Russian: Владимир Ефимович Семичастный, January 15, 1924 – January 12, 2001) was the head of the KGB from November 1961 to April 1967 and prior to that in 1958–1959 he headed Komsomol as the first secretary of the Central Committee.
Before he became head of the KGB he had no experience in the field of intelligence and counter-intelligence.[1][2]
His mentor and predecessor was Alexander Shelepin. In October 1963, Semichastny sanctioned the arrest of Professor Frederick Barghoorn of Yale University when he was visiting Moscow. Semichastny hoped that by charging Barghoorn as a spy he could induce the United States to release Igor Ivanov, arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that month for espionage.
Barghoorn was a personal friend of President John F. Kennedy, who forcefully stated that Barghoorn was not involved in any illegal activities at a press conference. The Soviets subsequently released Barghoorn. Ivanov was allowed to leave the United States in 1971.
Subsequently, Semichastny participated in the ouster of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in October 1964, an act that undoubtedly led to his being retained by the new Soviet leadership. There are some indications that Leonid Brezhnev, who led the coup against Khrushchev, wanted to assassinate him, but Semichastny refused to allow KGB participation.[3]
During his tenure Semichasnty attempted to create a new public image of the KGB, permitting an article to appear in the newspaper Izvestia that included an article with "a senior KGB officer" (himself); in the article he stated
"many young Communist Party and Communist Youth League workers have joined the KGB and none of the people who, during the time of Joseph Stalin's cult of personality took part in the repressions against innocent Soviet people is now in the Service."
More articles and books on the security organs appeared, and Soviet spies became heroes in print — Rudolf Abel, Gordon Lonsdale, Harold (Kim) Philby, and Richard Sorge.
Brezhnev finally replaced Semichastny on 18 May 1967, as part of a Kremlin power shuffle while Yuri Andropov became the new chief of the KGB.
Semichastny died of a stroke at the at age of 77 on January 12, 2001.[3]
References
- ↑ Intelligence and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Frank Cass Publishers. 2013. ISBN 0-7146-4883-3.
- ↑ Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali (1997). One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro, and Kennedy, 1958-1964. p. 262. ISBN 0-393-04070-4.
- 1 2 Ron Popeski (January 16, 2001). "Ex-KGB Head Semichastny Dies at 77". Reuters (636) (The Saint Petersburg Times). Retrieved January 21, 2014.
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| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Vasiliy Kostyenko |
First Secretary of the LKSMU 1947–1950 |
Succeeded by Georgiy Shevel |
| Preceded by Aleksandr Shelepin |
First Secretary of the Komsomol 1958–1959 |
Succeeded by Sergei Pavlov |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by Alexander Shelepin |
Chairman of the Committee for State Security November 13, 1961 – May 18, 1967 |
Succeeded by Yuri Andropov |
|