Kosygin, Aleksey

Kosygin, Aleksey (Nikolayevich)

(born Feb. 20, 1904, St. Petersburg, Russia—died Dec. 18, 1980, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet statesman, premier of the Soviet Union (1964–80). He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1927, and by 1939 he was a member of the Central Committee. After 1957 he worked closely with Nikita Khrushchev on economic matters, and in 1964, after Khrushchev's forced resignation, he replaced him as chair of the Council of Ministers, becoming head of the Soviet government. A competent and pragmatic economic administrator, he introduced reforms designed to modernize the Soviet economy. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he shared power with Leonid Brezhnev and Nikolay Podgorny, but his role decreased as Brezhnev's authority increased, and he retired in 1980.