Romanov, Grigoriy Vasilyevich << rah MAH nuhf, grih GAW rih ih vuh SYEEL yuh vyihch >> (1923-2008), was a leading official of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Romanov served on the party’s Politburo, the main policymaking body, as a nonvoting member from 1973 to 1976 and as a full member from 1976 to 1985. From 1983 to 1985, he was also a member of the Secretariat of the party’s Central Committee, the second most powerful organization within the party. In 1985, after the death of Communist Party head Konstantin U. Chernenko, Romanov was Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s chief rival for leadership of the party. Gorbachev won the position, and Romanov was soon removed from his posts.
Romanov was born on Feb. 7, 1923, in Zikhnovo (east of Velikiy Novgorod), in Novgorod oblast (region) of northwestern Russia. He joined the Communist Party in 1944. Romanov became known as a strict follower of traditional Communist beliefs and policies. He died in early June, 2008.
