Bulganin, Nikolai Aleksandrovich 1895-1975
Soviet politician

Born in Nizhny Novgorod, he became an early member of the Communist Party, was Mayor of Moscow (1933-37) and a member of the Military Council during World War II. Created a marshal at the end of the war, he succeeded Stalin as Minister for Defence in 1946. After Stalin's death he became vice-premier in Giorgi Malenkov's government and was made premier after the latter's resignation in 1955, though Nikita Khrushchev held the real power as First Secretary. Unlike their predecessors, both men travelled extensively abroad in Yugoslavia, India, and Great Britain. Khrushchev ousted Bulganin from his nominal position in 1958 and, his authority totally eclipsed, he retained only the minor post of chairman of the Soviet State Bank.