Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev ran the country from 1953 to 1964.
He was born on April 5th (17), 1894 in the village of Kalinovka, Kursk province. His father was Sergey Nikanorovich, his mother Ksenia Ivanovna. He was married twice: to Efrosinya Ivanovna Pisareva and Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk. First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee from 1953 to 1964, Chairman of USSR Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. Hero of the Soviet Union. Three times Hero of Socialist Labour. The first winner of the Shevchenko Award.
Khrushchev’s stay in power was dubbed as a “Thaw”: he conducted a number of democratic reforms and mass rehabilitation of political prisoners. Khrushchev is famous for his programmes for mass housing construction (Khrushchevki, or low-grade five-storied apartment buildings), and also years of active development of the space programme. He died in Moscow on September 11st, 1971.
The main events during Khrushchev’s years in power:
- 1950 – Beginning of the scientific and technical revolution
- June 27th, 1954 – Launch of the first-ever nuclear power station
- May 13th, 1955 – Establishment of the Warsaw Treaty
- 1956 — Beginning of the country’s destalinization process, condemnation of the cult of personality of Stalin
- October 4th, 1957 – Launch of the first-ever Soviet sputnik
- April 12th, 1961 – Yuri Gagarin’s space flight
- 1962 – the Caribbean crisis.
Nikita Khrushchev was developing the draft of a new Constitution; work on it began in 1962, and a Constitutional commission was formed. They have defined five priority areas:
- Definition of the increasing role of public organizations
- Taking inventory of all rights enjoyed by the citizens, which aren’t set forth in the 1936 Constitution
- Enhancing the role of the system of Soviets at all levels
- Introduction of the section about economic development, economic construction, description of the socialist property, planning, management, and distribution of material goods.
- Expanding the rights of the union republics.
The Constitution developed during Khrushchev’s time, was adopted only under Leonid Brezhnev.
