Nikolai Vladimirovich Talyzin (Russian: Никола́й Влади́мирович Талы́зин; 28 January 1929 – 23 January 1991) was a Soviet statesman, economist and head of the Gosplan, or the State Planning Committee.[1]

Nikolai Talyzin
Николай Талызин
First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers
In office
1 November 1985 – 7 June 1989
PremierNikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded byAndrei Gromyko
Succeeded byVsevolod Murakhovski
Chairman of State Planning Committee
In office
1985–1988
PremierNikolai Ryzhkov
Preceded byNikolai Baibakov
Succeeded byYuri Maslyukov
Minister of Communications
In office
3 September 1975 – 24 October 1980
PremierAlexei Kosygin
Preceded byNikolai Psurtsev
Succeeded byVasily Shamshin
Candidate member of the 26th, 27th Politburo
In office
15 October 1985 – 20 September 1989
Full member of the 26th, 27th Central Committee
In office
3 March 1981 – 14 July 1990
Personal details
Born28 January 1929
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Died23 January 1991(1991-01-23) (aged 61)
Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Political partyCommunist Party of the Soviet Union (1960–1990)
Alma materMoscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics

Biography

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He was born in Moscow to a working-class family. After graduating from the Moscow Communications Institute, he worked at the Scientific Research Institute of Radio of the Soviet Ministry of Communications as an engineer, leading designer, senior research fellow, and deputy director. At the institute, he headed the pioneering work on the creation of the world's first satellite television broadcasting system "Orbita" in the USSR, which was put into operation in 1967 and provided the opportunity to watch Soviet Central Television programs for almost 90 million citizens of the USSR living in Siberia and the Russian Far East. Under his leadership, the satellite systems "Moscow" and "Moscow-Global" were also introduced.[2]

Talyzin was Chosen by Mikhail Gorbachev in October 1985 to help start the program of economic change known as perestroika, after serving five years as the Soviet representative at Comecon, the Eastern European trade bloc. He was appointed head of the State Planning Commission, or Gosplan, when almost every sector of the Soviet economy was still firmly under state control. He became one of the three First Deputy Premiers at this time, as well as a non-voting member of the Communist Party Politburo.

The planning commission's task shifted from setting production targets to mapping out economic strategy, as Gorbachev pushed his economic reforms. Talyzin came under strong criticism, and moved to the post of head of the Bureau for Social Development in 1988,[3] blamed for slowing reforms. In September 1989, with perestroika failing to produce the promised results, he was dismissed, along with many other conservatives in Nikolai Ryzhkov's government, whom he blamed for slowing the pace of reforms.

Awards and decorations

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References

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  1. ^ "Nikolai Talyzin, 62; Assisted Gorbachev in Starting Reforms". The New York Times. Reuters. 26 January 1991. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Быховский М. А. Миссия Московского технического университета связи и информатики — формирование отечественной элиты в области телекоммуникаций" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-10-29. Retrieved 2011-12-22.
  3. ^ "Soviet Shifts Planning Chief After Criticism by Gorbachev". The New York Times. Reuters. 7 February 1988. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
Political offices
Preceded by Chairman of the State Planning Committee
1985–1988
Succeeded by