2-548-226 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

Anastas Mikoyan, Russian communist statesman, c1920s-c1930s. Born in what is now Armenia, Mikoyan (1895-1978) joined the Bolsheviks in 1915 and participated in the 1917 Russian Revolution and the ensuing civil war. He became a member of the Communist Party Central Committee and was a supporter of Stalin in the power struggle that broke out after Lenin's death in 1924. In 1935 Mikoyan was elected to the Politburo and served as Minister of Foreign Trade from 1938 until 1949, when he fell out of favour with Stalin. He was rehabilitated after Stalin died in 1953 and became First Deputy Premier under Nikita Khrushchev. He retained his position of influence after Khrushchev was deposed in 1964, holding the powerful position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet until retiring in 1965. Found in the collection of the Russian State Film and Photo Archive, Krasnogorsk.