BACKGROUND BIOGRAPHIC DATA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80R01443R000200300001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 27, 2006
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: March 25, 1954
• Content Type: BRIEF

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CONFIDENTIAL
NSC BRIEFING 25 March 1954
BACKGROUND BIOGRAPHIC DATA
L. M. KAGANOVICH
Position: Member of the Party Presidium.
First Deputy Minister of the Council
of Ministers.
Born in 1893, Kaganovich has been a
member of the leading group since the
middle 1920's. Once known as the "Iron
Commissar", he is the only Jewish member
of the ruling group. Described as a man
of extraordinary intellectual and practi-
cal capacities and great energy Kaganovich
is said to be one of the most able adminis-
trators in the Soviet hierarchy and is
usually called upon to try to solve the
most urgent Soviet industrial bottlenecks.
At present known to be in charge of trans-
port, he has in the past been minister of
heavy, fuel, oil, and building materials
industries.
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K. I. VOROSHILOV
Position: Member of the Party Presidium.
Chairman of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet.
Born in 1881 Voroshilov's career
has been a mixture of political and
military activities. From 1925 - 1939
he was People's Commissar for military
and naval affairs, later for defense.
A member of the Politburo since 1926,
he was elected to the position as chair-
man of the Presidium of the Supreme
Soviet after Stalin's death. He is con-
sidered to be of little military or poli-
tical importance since the positions he
now occupies are primarily honorary.
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B. P. BESHCHEV
Position: Minister of Railroads.
Beshchev has been associated with
railroad affairs at least since 1941.
Presumed to be protegd of Kaganovich.
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V, M, MOLOTOV
Position: Member Party Presidium;
First Deputy Chairman USSR Council
of Ministers and Minister of Foreign
Affairs.
Born in 1890, Molotov is one of the
few old Bolsheviks to remain in a trusted
position.
Molotov is not
considered to have built up any clique or
group of protegds within the party appa-
ratus. He is a foreign affairs techni-
cian of the highest order but his talents=
do not extend to formulating basic de-
cisions. Lenin once characterized him
as ''the best file clerk in Moscow."
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A. I. KIRICHENKO
Position: First Secretary Ukraine
Born in the Ukraine in 1908 Kiri-
chenko made his career in the communist
party apparatus in that area. He is
believed to have been put on the power-
ful all-Union party presidium a couple
of months ago. His work in the Ukraine
brought him into close contact with
N. S. Khrushchev, who was the party
boss in the Ukraine from 1938 to 1949.
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F. E. DZERZHINSKY
1877 - 1926
One of the few outstanding leaders of
the 1917 Bolshevik revolution whose memory'
is still honored by the Soviet regime
Dzerzhinsky was charged with the suppres-
sion of counter-revolutionary elements in
the Ukraine during the Civil War. He is
the only Soviet secret police chief who
is believed to have died a natural death.
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M. V. FRUNZE
1885 - 1925
Having played a leading role in
Soviet military operations during the
Civil War, Frunze later became commander- -
in-chief of the Soviet army and navy. The
Soviet Union's leading general staff
school is named after him.
7 -
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Ya. M. SVERDLOV
1885 - 1919
Sverdlov was the! nominal head of
the young Soviet state and one of the
best organizers among the early Bolsheviks.
One of the Soviet Union's largest indus-
trial cities bears his name.
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