List of chairmen of the KGB

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The chairman of the KGB was the head of the Committee for State Security (KGB), the main security agency of the Soviet Union in 1954–1991. He was assisted by one or two first deputy chairmen, and four to six deputy chairmen. He was also the head of the Collegium of the KGB—which consisted of the chairman, deputy chairmen, directorate chiefs, and one or two republic-level KGB organization chairmen—who affected key policy decisions.

Chairman of the Committee for State Security
Flag of the Chairman
Longest serving
Yuri Andropov
18 May 1967–26 May 1982
Committee for State Security
SeatLubyanka Building, 2 Bolshaya Lubyanka Street, Moscow, Russian SFSR
AppointerPremier
PrecursorMinister of State Security
Formation13 March 1954
First holderIvan Serov
Final holderVadim Bakatin
Abolished3 December 1991
Superseded byHead of the Inter-republican Security Service (ru)
DeputyFirst Deputy Chairman

In 1934–1943 the Soviet State Security agency was part of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD) as the Main Directorate of State Security (GUGB). The director of the GUGB was the first deputy of the People's Commissar of Interior.

List of officeholders

No. Portrait Name
(birth–death) 		Term of office Leader
Took office Left office Time in office
Chairman of the Cheka (1917–1922)
1 Felix Dzerzhinsky
(1877–1926) 		20 December 1917 7 July 1918 199 days
  • Vladimir Lenin (1917–1924)
— Jēkabs Peterss
(1886–1938)
Acting 		7 July 1918 22 August 1918 46 days
(1) Felix Dzerzhinsky
(1877–1926) 		22 August 1918 6 February 1922 3 years, 168 days
Chairman of the GPU–OGPU (1922, 1923–1934)
Felix Dzerzhinsky
(1877–1926) 		6 February 1922 20 July 1926 4 years, 164 days
  • Vladimir Lenin (1917–1924)
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
2 Vyacheslav Menzhinsky
(1874–1934) 		30 July 1926 10 May 1934 7 years, 284 days
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
3 Genrikh Yagoda
(1891–1938) 		10 May 1934 10 July 1934 61 days
People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (1934–1941)
Genrikh Yagoda
(1891–1938) 		10 July 1934 26 September 1936 2 years, 78 days
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
4 Nikolai Yezhov
(1895–1940) 		26 September 1936 25 November 1938 2 years, 60 days
5 Lavrentiy Beria
(1895–1940) 		25 November 1938 3 February 1941 2 years, 70 days
People's Commissar for State Security (1941)
6 Vsevolod Merkulov
(1895–1953) 		3 February 1941 20 July 1941 167 days
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (1941–1943)
(5) Lavrentiy Beria
(1899–1953) 		20 July 1941 14 April 1943 1 year, 268 days
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
(6) People's Commissar for State Security (1943–1946)
Vsevolod Merkulov
(1895–1953) 		14 April 1943 15 March 1946 2 years, 335 days
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
Minister of State Security (1946–1953)
Vsevolod Merkulov
(1895–1953) 		15 March 1946 4 May 1946 50 days
  • Joseph Stalin (1924–1953)
7 Viktor Abakumov
(1908–1954) 		4 May 1946 14 July 1951 5 years, 71 days
— Sergei Ogoltsov
(1900–1976)
Acting 		14 July 1951 9 August 1951 26 days
8 Semyon Ignatiev
(1904–1983) 		9 August 1951 5 March 1953 1 year, 208 days
Minister of Internal Affairs (1953–1954)
(5) Lavrentiy Beria
(1899–1953) 		5 March 1953 26 June 1953 113 days
  • Georgy Malenkov (1953–1953)
  • Nikita Khrushchev (1953–1964)
9 Sergei Kruglov
(1907–1977) 		26 June 1953 13 March 1954 260 days
Chairman of the Committee for State Security (1954–1991)
10 Ivan Serov
(1905–1990) 		13 March 1954 8 December 1958 4 years, 270 days
  • Nikita Khrushchev (1953–1964)
— Konstantin Lunev (ru)
(1907–1980)
Acting 		8 December 1958 25 December 1958 17 days
11 Alexander Shelepin
(1918–1994) 		25 December 1958 5 November 1961 2 years, 315 days
— Pyotr Ivashutin
(1909–2002)
Acting 		5 November 1961 13 November 1961 8 days
12 Vladimir Semichastny
(1924–2001) 		13 November 1961 18 May 1967 5 years, 186 days
  • Nikita Khrushchev (1953–1964)
  • Leonid Brezhnev (1964–1982)
13 Yuri Andropov
(1914–1984) 		18 May 1967 26 May 1982 15 years, 8 days
  • Leonid Brezhnev (1964–1982)
14 Vitaly Fedorchuk
(1918–2008) 		26 May 1982 17 December 1982 205 days
  • Leonid Brezhnev (1964–1982)
  • Yuri Andropov (1982–1984)
15 Viktor Chebrikov
(1923–1999) 		17 December 1982 1 October 1988 5 years, 289 days
  • Yuri Andropov (1982–1984)
  • Konstantin Chernenko (1984–1985)
  • Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–1991)
16 Vladimir Kryuchkov
(1924–2007) 		1 October 1988 28 August 1991 2 years, 331 days
  • Mikhail Gorbachev (1985–1991)
— Leonid Shebarshin
(1935–2012)
Acting 		22 August 1991 23 August 1991 1 day
17 Vadim Bakatin
(1937–2022) 		29 August 1991 3 December 1991 96 days

Timeline

See also

Citations

  1. Закон СССР от 03.12.1991 N 124-Н О реорганизации органов государственной безопасности

Sources

  • Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Gardners Books (2000), ISBN 0-14-028487-7 Basic Books (1999), hardcover, ISBN 0-465-00310-9; trade paperback (September, 2000), ISBN 0-465-00312-5
  • John Barron, "KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents",Reader's Digest Press (1974), ISBN 0-88349-009-9
  • Vasili Mitrokhin and Christopher Andrew, The World Was Going Our Way: The KGB and the Battle for the Third World, Basic Books (2005) hardcover, 677 pages ISBN 0-465-00311-7

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