2-587-972 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

'Portrait of the Politician Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev', 1951. Khrushchev (1894-1971) joined the Communist Party in 1918, rising through the party ranks to become a member of the Politburo in 1939. He served in the Second World War as a senior political officer, notably at the Battle of Stalingrad. After the death of Stalin in 1953, Khrushchev emerged from the ensuing struggle between factions of the party as its leader, consolidating his position in 1958 when he replaced Nikolai Bulganin as Premier. Found in the collection of the State Central Artillery Museum, St Petersburg.