Kaganovich, Lazar

Kaganovich, Lazar (Moiseyevich)

(born Nov. 22, 1893, Kabany, near Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire—died July 25, 1991, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet political leader. He joined the Bolsheviks in 1911 and became head of the Soviet government of Tashkent in 1920. As head of the Moscow party organization (1930–35), he brought it firmly under Joseph Stalin's control and with Vyacheslav Molotov formed the core of Stalin's “post-purge” Politburo (see purge trials). Until 1953 he was largely responsible for heavy industry in the Soviet Union. Under Nikita Khrushchev, he held administrative posts, but he opposed de-Stalinization and joined the unsuccessful attempt to depose Khrushchev in 1957, as a result of which he lost all his offices.