Tikhonov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich << TEE khuhn uhf, nyih kuh LY uh lyih KSAN druh vyihch >> (1905-1997), served as premier of the Soviet Union from 1980 to 1985. The premier—officially chairman of the Council of Ministers—was the chief administrator of the Soviet government.
Tikhonov was born on May 1, 1905, in Kharkov (now spelled Kharkiv), Ukraine. He earned an engineering degree in Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro) and worked as an engineer and plant manager in factories. He joined the Communist Party in 1940. Beginning in 1950, he held various industrial management positions in government. From 1957 to 1960, Tikhonov headed the Dnipropetrovsk economic council.
Tikhonov was a personal friend and strong supporter of Leonid Brezhnev, the Communist Party’s general secretary and the Soviet Union’s top leader from 1964 to 1982. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Tikhonov rose through the ranks of the Soviet government’s Council of Ministers. He became a full member of the powerful Politburo of the Communist Party in 1979. He resigned as premier and from the Politburo in 1985, supposedly for reasons of health. However, it is believed that Tikhonov was forced to resign by Mikhail Gorbachev, who became the party’s general secretary in 1985. Gorbachev sharply criticized the leadership of Brezhnev and his supporters, including Tikhonov. Tikhonov died on June 1, 1997.
