List of chairmen of the KGB explained

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.

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

	Portrait	Name	Term of office			Premier
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1	Chairman of the Cheka (1917–1922)
		Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926)	20 December 1917	7 July 1918		Vladimir Lenin (1917–1924)
2		Yakov Peters (1886–1938)	7 July 1918	22 August 1918
1		Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926)	22 August 1918	6 February 1922
	Chairman of the GPU–OGPU (1922, 1923–1934)
		Felix Dzerzhinsky (1877–1926)	6 February 1922	20 July 1926		Vladimir Lenin (1917–1924) Alexey Rykov (1924–1930) Vyacheslav Molotov (1930–1941)
3		Vyacheslav Menzhinsky (1874–1934)	30 July 1926	10 May 1934		Vyacheslav Molotov (1930–1941)
4	Main Directorate of State Security of People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (1934–1941)
		Genrikh Yagoda (1891–1936)	10 July 1934	26 September 1936		Vyacheslav Molotov (1930–1941)
5		Yakov Agranov (1893–1938)	29 December 1936	15 April 1937
6		Mikhail Frinovsky (1898–1940)	15 April 1937	28 March 1938
7		Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953)	29 September 1938	17 December 1938
8		Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953)	17 December 1938	3 February 1941
	People's Commissar for State Security (1941)
		Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953)	3 February 1941	20 July 1941		Vyacheslav Molotov (1930–1941) Joseph Stalin (1941–1953)
	Main Directorate of State Security of People's Commissar for Internal Affairs (1941–1943)
		Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953)	20 July 1941	14 April 1943		Joseph Stalin (1941–1953)
	People's Commissar for State Security (1943–1946)
		Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953)	14 April 1943	15 March 1946		Joseph Stalin (1941–1953)
	Ministry of State Security (1946–1954)
		Vsevolod Merkulov (1895–1953)	15 March 1946	18 March 1946		Joseph Stalin (1941–1953)
9		Viktor Abakumov (1908–1954)	18 March 1946	14 July 1951
—		Sergei Ogoltsov (1900–1976) Acting	14 July 1951	9 August 1951
10		Semyon Ignatiev (1904–1983)	9 August 1951	5 March 1953
7		Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953)	5 March 1953	26 June 1953		Georgy Malenkov (1953–1955)
11		Sergei Kruglov (1907–1977)	June 1953	13 March 1954
12	Chairman of the Committee for State Security (1954–1991)
		Ivan Serov (1905–1990)	13 March 1954	8 December 1958		Georgy Malenkov (1953–1955) Nikolai Bulganin (1955–1958) Nikita Khrushchev (1958–1964)
13		Alexander Shelepin (1918–1994)	25 December 1958	13 November 1961		Nikita Khrushchev (1958–1964)
14		Vladimir Semichastny (1924–2001)	13 November 1961	18 May 1967		Nikita Khrushchev (1958–1964) Alexei Kosygin (1964–1980)
15		Yuri Andropov (1914–1984)	18 May 1967	26 May 1982		Alexei Kosygin (1964–1980) Nikolai Tikhonov (1980–1985)
16		Vitaly Fedorchuk (1918–2008)	26 May 1982	17 December 1982		Nikolai Tikhonov (1980–1985)
17		Viktor Chebrikov (1923–1999)	17 December 1982	1 October 1988		Nikolai Tikhonov (1980–1985) Nikolai Ryzhkov (1985–1991)
18		Vladimir Kryuchkov (1924–2007)	1 October 1988	28 August 1991		Nikolai Ryzhkov (1985–1991) Valentin Pavlov (1991)
—		Leonid Shebarshin (1935–2012) Acting	22 August 1991	23 August 1991
19		Vadim Bakatin (1937–2022)	29 August 1991	3 December 1991		Ivan Silayev (1991)

See also

• Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies
• Director of the Federal Security Service
• Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service

Sources

• Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Gardners Books (2000), Basic Books (1999), hardcover, ; trade paperback (September, 2000),
• John Barron, "KGB: The Secret Work of Soviet Secret Agents",Reader's Digest Press (1974),
• 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

Further reading

• Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on RussiaPast, Present, and Future. Farrar Straus Giroux (1994) .
• John Barron. KGB: The Secret Works Of Soviet Secret Agents. Bantam Books (1981)
• Vadim J. Birstein. The Perversion Of Knowledge: The True Story of Soviet Science. Westview Press (2004) (describes a secret KGB lab engaged in development and testing of poisons)
• John Dziak, Chekisty: A History of the KGB, Lexington Books (1988)
• Book: Sheymov, Victor . Tower of Secrets . 1993 . Naval Institute Press . 1-55750-764-3 . 420 .
• Бережков, Василий Иванович (2004). Руководители Ленинградского управления КГБ : 1954–1991. Санкт-Петербург: Выбор, 2004. (in Russian)

External links

• KGB Information Center from FAS.org
• Chebrikov, Viktor M., et al., eds. Istoriya sovetskikh organov gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti. (1977) http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/documents.htm
• Slaves of KGB. 20th Century. The religion of betrayal (Russian) - book by Yuri Shchekochikhin

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Notes and References

1. http://pravo.levonevsky.org/baza/soviet/sssr0011.htm Закон СССР от 03.12.1991 N 124-Н О реорганизации органов государственной безопасности