Kulakov, Fedor Davydovich

He graduated from the Rila Agricultural Technical School (1938). In 1938–1941, he was an assistant manager of the department of the Uritsk Sugar Plant (Tambov Region), department manager, agronomist at the Zemetchinsk Sugar Refinery (Penza Region). Member of the CPSU since 1940 . In 1941–1943 - 1st secretary of the Zemetchinsky district committee of the Komsomol, head of the Zemetchinsky district land department (Penza region), 1943-1944 - chairman of the Executive Committee of Nikolo-Pestravsky district council, 1st secretary of the Nikolo-Pestravsky district committee of the CPSU (b ), since 1944 - Head of the Agricultural Department of the Penza Regional Committee of the CPSU (b), Head of the Penza Regional Land Department.

From February 1950 to August 1955 - Chairman of the Penza Regional Executive Committee. In 1955-1959 - Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the RSFSR ( Morozova , Benediktova ). He graduated from the All-Union Agricultural Institute of Correspondence Education (1957). In 1959-1960 - Minister of Bread of the RSFSR . In 1960-1964 - First Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU .

Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU since 1961. Head of the agricultural department of the Central Committee of the CPSU in 1964-1976. Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee since 1965. Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee since 1971.

He took part in the events of the fall of 1964, which caused N. S. Khrushchev to resign (members of the Politburo gathered at his place) ^[1] .

It is known that Kulakov took care of M. S. Gorbachev , patronized his nomination along the party line in the Stavropol region ^[2] , he also contributed to the advancement of Marat Gramov ^[3] to the apparatus of the CPSU Central Committee; both of them worked together with Kulakov in the Stavropol region.

On February 3, 1978, in connection with the 60th anniversary, he was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor .

July 4, 1978 at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU was criticized for the poor state of agriculture. ^[four]

July 5, 1978 marked the 40th anniversary of the wedding. Had a stomach disease (successful resection was performed after the discovery of cancer in 1969). Suddenly died on the night of July 17, 1978 from heart failure after a family scandal. Academician EI Chazov , who headed the Kremlin medicine at that time, in his memoirs about the death of Kulakov confirms this conclusion. ^[5] According to other sources, he was found in bed with a shot through his head. ^[6]

He was cremated , an urn with ashes placed in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.

At the funeral of Kulakov there were no L.I. Brezhnev , A.N. Kosygin , M.A. Suslov , V.V. Grishin ^[7] . The funeral commission was headed by A. P. Kirilenko . Mikhail Gorbachev (also a native of the Stavropol Territory ), who became Kulakov's successor in the post of Secretary of the Central Committee for Agriculture, spoke at the memorial meeting. This was Gorbachev’s first performance on Red Square and the appearance of the Mausoleum on the podium.

Daughter, Tamara Fedorovna Dzanagova - Dentist of the Moscow Medical and Dental University. Son, Valery Fedorovich Kulakov.

By the end of the 1970s, Kulakov was the youngest, after G. Romanov (b. 1923), a member of the Politburo ^[2] . He was considered as one of the possible successors of Brezhnev , in particular, in the Western press, which, as is noted, played a role in the fact that at the end of his life Kulakov fell into disgrace. Some details of it are given by I. Ya. Froyanov ^[7] .

On the night of July 16-17, 1978, Kulakov, according to TASS , “died from acute heart failure with a sudden cardiac arrest” ^[9] . There are, however, versions of his murder or suicide ^{[3] [10]} .

So, for example, Fedor Morgun was inclined to the version of the murder:

... Need to tell about the mysterious death of Kulakov. It was a powerful, wise, decent man. The leader on whom we rightly relied, believing that he would take the post of general secretary after Brezhnev. But by the end of the seventies clouds began to thicken over him. In one of the visits to Moscow I went to Fyodor Davydovich. I could not help but say that I was worried: “Fedor Davydovich, I have been listening to foreign radio voices regularly for the past few months. Day after day, they all say that Brezhnev is seriously ill and Fyodor Davidovich Kulakov is preparing for his place. I don’t know how to tell you, but I’m terribly afraid of these provocations. ” He sat silently. He got up, walked up to me, hugged and quietly, in his ear said: "Fedya, I am also very afraid of this."

- Kobzar virgin

According to the version given by M.S. Smirtyukov , Kulakov died due to excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages: “Brezhnev did not like to drink at first. But when he became first secretary, he had to take up a glass — it was inconvenient not to drink obkoms with secretaries. some of the ministers in the rest rooms had solid stocks of spirits. And they did not lie around there without doing anything. A member of the Politburo Kulakov had a similar bar in the Central Committee. He was considered to be just a patient with alcoholism .

According to the testimony of Felix Seravin, who saw Kulakov several hours before his death, the latter looked normal and was going to go to his family cottage that day ^[3] .

According to the version and data provided by the ex-investigator for particularly important cases of the USSR Prosecutor’s Office Alexander Chernov, F. D. Kulakov, was shot dead at his dacha in the sauna, in the presence of Yu.V. Andropov, the Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee. Secretary General Andropov):

“In order to discredit a competitor in the fight for the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee F. D. Kulakov, and then bring him to death, Andropov, through intelligence and his agents, in the Western media spread the information that Kulakov“ podszhitsya ”the General Secretary of the Central Committee of Brezhnev and claims his position. This information was printed in French, German, English and American newspapers. These newspapers were delivered by Andropov’s agents to Moscow and with the translation put on the table by Brezhnev. Andropov reported to Brezhnev about what the Western press wrote and what Kulakov allegedly did. At one moment Brezhnev could not stand it and, without taking Kulakov out of the Politburo, he removed him from all affairs. And right after that, a few days later, Kulakov was found dead at the dacha. ”

• Hero of Socialist Labor ( Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 3, 1978 , Order of Lenin and the Hammer and Sickle Medal ) - for great services to the Communist Party and the Soviet state and on the occasion of the sixtieth birthday ^[11]
• Order of Lenin ( February 2, 1968 ) - for services to the Communist Party and the Soviet state and on the occasion of the fiftieth birthday ^[12]
• Order of Lenin ( December 2, 1971 )
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor ( January 11, 1957 ) - for the progress achieved in the development of virgin and fallow lands and in connection with this a significant increase in gross gathering and harvesting of bread, as well as for successful harvesting and delivery of bread to the state in 1956 ^[13]
• Medal "For Labor Valor" ( December 25, 1959 ) - for achieving high rates in the production and sale of meat and other agricultural products to the state in 1959 ^[14]

• In Kursk and Stavropol, avenues are named after Kulakov .
• The street in Moscow is named after Kulakov
• An annotation board has been installed in Penza on the street named after Kulakov
• In Rylsk, Kursk region, the agro-industrial college is named after F. D. Kulakov
• Monument to Kulakov and Kulakov Avenue in Stavropol ^[15]

• A novel by смерти.V. Topol and F. E. Neznansky "Red Square" ( 1983 ) tells about one of the versions of Kulakov’s death. In 2004, based on the novel filmed a television series .

Kulakov, Fedor Davydovich (Rus.) . The site " Heroes of the country ."

• Kulakov Fedor Davydovich in Grateful. 1974
• TSB
• HRONOS