Three names of the leaders of the Leningrad communists will forever remain in the people's memory: Sergei Mironovich Kirov, Andrei Andreevich Zhdanov and Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov. The further time separates us from those years when G.V. stood at the head of the Leningrad party organization. Romanov, the more the magnitude of his personality is realized. He was a major state talent and creator.

One of many is one of us

The story of Romanov’s personality is remarkable in that at first it will seem typical for many in Soviet times. The atypicality begins with the manifestation of his remarkable mind as an organizer, capable of realizing the national significance of the current work, like everyone else’s, and raising it to the maximum high level. Organizational talent is a rare phenomenon at all times. He singled out Romanov among many.

But let's return to the typical. He was born in the village of Zikhnovo, Borovichi district, Petrograd province (now Borovichi district, Novgorod region) into a large peasant family. He was the youngest, sixth child. In 1938 he graduated with honors from junior high school and even before that he joined the Komsomol. In the same year he entered the Leningrad Shipbuilding College. As we see, Stalin’s slogan “Cadres who have mastered technology decide everything!” did not bypass fifteen-year-old Grigory Romanov. But he didn’t have time to graduate from college - the war broke out...

He fought from bell to bell, from 1941 to 1945. In September 1944, he joined the party at the front. He was shell-shocked and awarded two medals - “For the Defense of Leningrad” (1942) and “For Military Merit” (1944).

At the end of the war, he returned to the technical school and in 1946 defended his diploma with honors and received the specialty of a ship-hull builder. Sent to work at TsKB-53 Shipyard named after. A.A. Zhdanov (now “Northern Shipyard”). Here Romanov’s professionalism and organizational skills showed themselves, as stated in the description: “he showed himself to be a technically competent designer and was promoted from an ordinary designer to the position of leading designer, and then head of the sector.” He worked and studied at the evening department of the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute. He graduated from it in 1953 with a degree in shipbuilding engineer. Thirty years - everything is ahead...

And, in general, a typical biography of a young Soviet man - a front-line soldier. Yes, I attracted attention with my professional culture, organizational skills, will and determination. But there were many of them.

Demanded by time

The originality of Romanov’s personality, his promotion to the ranks of the few who have organizational, managerial talent, and state thinking - all this became obvious with Grigory Vasilyevich’s transition to party work. In 1954, he was elected secretary of the party committee of the plant. A.A. Zhdanov. At thirty-five years old (mature youth!) Romanov is the first secretary of the Kirov district party committee of Leningrad.

People like him were in demand at that time - the time of scientific, technical and social progress in the USSR. In the 60-70s of the twentieth century, the CPSU, in order to remain the leading force of Soviet society, was obliged to promote well-trained party cadres to command positions (in the management of the production sector primarily) - cadres competent in organizing high-tech production. And besides, they know firsthand, but from their own life experience, the social needs and aspirations of ordinary production workers, those who were called ordinary Soviet people. In other words, the party, as always, at the new stage of socialist construction needed personnel who had passed the school of highly qualified labor, a test of personal responsibility for decisions made who have proven their ability to lead competently and in the best way and have gained the trust of the party and non-party ranks. Romanov met these requirements fully. In addition, he was unusually talented, smart and, as they said about him, devilishly efficient and completely selfless. His rapid ascent to the top of the party leadership in Leningrad was not accidental: in 1961 he was elected secretary of the Leningrad city committee, and in 1962 - secretary of the regional party committee, in 1963 - its second secretary.

Those were the years of Khrushchev’s voluntarism, which Grigory Vasilyevich did not like to remember. He remained silent, which is understandable: alien to ill-conceived hasty solutions to issues of organizing production, he, a production worker to the core, preferred not to talk about the time during which he had to protect, as far as possible, the Leningrad industry (he was responsible for it in the regional committee) from feverish innovations. What was the cost of just reorganizing party bodies along production lines: dividing them into industrial and rural committees?! But this was also a kind of valuable experience for Romanov: he, as they say, sensed adventurism and incompetence a mile away and did not allow those who suffered from these vices into the party leadership.

First

On September 16, 1970, a turning point occurred in the life of Grigory Vasilyevich - he was elected first secretary Leningrad Regional Committee CPSU. He was in his forty-eighth year - the time for the blossoming of personality!..

For thirteen years, Romanov headed one of the largest organizations of the CPSU, which by 1983 numbered 497 thousand communists. During these thirteen years, his creative nature revealed itself in full force. His name gained all-Union fame. They started talking about him abroad too.

Imagine at least a sketch of all the complex and varied activities of G.V. Romanov when he was the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee is impossible within the confines of one essay. Its author did not set such a task for himself. But I will try to talk about the outstanding deeds of the great Leningrader.

The first in their series was the creation of large production and research and production associations, which made it possible to effectively develop and implement new technologies. And the main thing is to connect science with production at the time of the scientific and technological revolution. Only in the sixties of the last century, nine sectoral production associations were formed in Leningrad, which covered 43 industrial enterprises and 14 research, design and technological organizations. Associations like LOMO, Svetlana, and Elektrosila did not exist in the West in the nineties (yes!), and they are unlikely to exist there today. Romanov stood at the origins of this epoch-making undertaking, while still being the secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee. In the seventies, thanks to his will and ability to see the future of production, it received dynamic development. By the end of the eighties, 161 production, scientific-production and industrial-technical associations were already operating in Leningrad and the region. They accounted for 70% of the total production of Leningrad industry. Yes, what a high-tech one! More than one and a half thousand new types of machines and devices were created, including those that had no analogues in the world. The Electrosila association manufactured a turbogenerator with a capacity of 1 million 200 thousand kilowatts. LOMO has a unique optical telescope with a mirror 6 meters in diameter. The capitalist West did not know such masterpieces of industrial production at that time.

Romanov, in one of his conversations with me (and there were many of them: when I was a State Duma deputy in 1995-1999, I often met with Grigory Vasilyevich in his Moscow apartment) said: “It’s a lie that we were far behind the West in scientific technically. We were ahead in many ways - in electronics, instrument making, turbo manufacturing, and more. We needed time to translate our achievements in the defense industry into people’s everyday lives. We started this. And they would have pulled ahead if not for Gorbachev’s “perestroika”.

Romanov was one of the few who sought and found a concrete way to combine the advantages of a planned socialist economy with the achievements of scientific and technological progress. This was the essence of creating powerful research and production associations. It is clear that the leading ones were concentrated in the military-industrial complex (MIC), which is the nerve of the entire economy. The USA and the entire West were very worried about this. After the ill-fated “perestroika”, they did not fail to have a hand in removing the said nerve: with feverish privatization, the most powerful associations of the military-industrial complex were dispersed. The pain that Romanov experienced when talking about the tragedy of the Leningrad industry was beyond words. You should have seen his eyes...

He considered the city and region a common home

Another great undertaking of the First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee was the development of a comprehensive plan for the economic and social development of Leningrad and the region for the X Five-Year Plan (1976-1980). Its main link was the same plan for the development of specific production. Industrial enterprises began to acquire institutions for social, everyday and cultural purposes, all that infrastructure for the life support of their workers, which is now completely finished off (everything that was done in the name of man was destroyed in the name of the profit of the owner). Large industrial associations financed the construction of kindergartens, nurseries, cultural and recreation centers, sanatoriums, hospitals and dispensaries. We launched housing construction for workers and their families.

Romanov understood Stalin’s truth better than others: personnel decide everything. I learned it because I realized: it’s not just a matter of the system of training and retraining of personnel. It also consists of creating socio-economic conditions for their fruitful activities.

The experience of integrated planning, born in Leningrad, became widespread in the country and was enshrined in the 1977 Constitution of the USSR.

Under Romanov, a problem of strategic importance for a city of five million was solved: Leningrad began to be provided with basic food products (meat, milk, butter, eggs, vegetables) produced in the agriculture of the Leningrad region. Solving this problem was extremely difficult in the very unfavorable climatic conditions of the North-West. First of all, it was necessary to create a powerful material and technical base. For this, the experience of creating large production associations was useful. With the support of Romanov and under his tutelage, they appeared and grew stronger in the Leningrad region: the association of greenhouse state farms “Leto” (1971), the industrial complex for fattening cattle “Pashsky”, the pig-breeding complex “Vostochny” (1973).

I note that during the period when Romanov was the first secretary of the regional committee, the growth of livestock in agricultural production was not only strictly, but strictly controlled. Its reduction was regarded as causing damage to strategic food resources (what today? who thinks about these resources, and do they even exist?).

Regionalists keep good memories of the demanding first secretary. From the villagers’ memories of him: “Everyone knew Romanov. He was a strict and zealous owner. The region did not offend anyone. He considered the city and the region a common home. In a word - the owner."

For the benefit of the working class

And yet, the most significant of all Romanov’s actions, it seems to me, was his work aimed at replenishing the working class of Leningrad with professionally trained personnel. He was the first Soviet politician to realize the severity of this problem during the period of dynamic development of scientific and technological progress. And he was the first to see the way to solve it through the formation of a system of vocational schools on the basis of general secondary education. Personnel decides everything. But in the case when the workforce is well educated, cultured, and smart. Without general secondary education, they cannot become like that. Romanov approached the solution of the problem not as a technocrat-pragmatist, as his ill-wishers often portray him, but as a statesman and party leader who went through an apprenticeship school in a production team.

Grigory Vasilyevich told me how he convinced the country's leadership of the need to transfer vocational schools to train workers only with secondary education. He involuntarily demonstrated not only his ability to think strategically, but also to tactically correctly pursue his strategic line. He recalled: “Before going to Brezhnev, I asked for an appointment with Suslov. And he began to prove to him that the question of vocational schools with secondary education is a question of the future of the working class, of its leading role. The issue is primarily political. I see that he understands me, agrees, supports me. Well, with his support it’s easier to talk to Leonid Ilyich. After all, this is a serious matter, requiring very significant material costs. The Ministry of Finance resisted. And not everyone in the Politburo agreed. Brezhnev listened to me carefully and agreed. The issue was resolved at the Politburo."

Leningrad was the first city in which, by the end of the seventies, the transition of vocational schools to secondary education was completed. There was no shortage of lofty words about the leading role of the working class in the party press and in oral propaganda. Romanov never competed with anyone in eloquence; he was restrained in his words. He created the conditions for the materialization of the declared great idea. It took time, 10-15 years, for a new generation of workers to form and strengthen, having undergone vocational training on the basis of secondary education. But tragic events for the country (“perestroika” according to Gorbachev and “reforms” according to Yeltsin) stopped the Soviet era and interrupted it.

Slander

Romanov’s time was also interrupted - the time of creation, the creation of something new, a breakthrough into the future. He became an increasingly prominent figure on the political horizon: since 1973 - a candidate member and since 1976 - a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, since 1983 - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (left Leningrad, moved to Moscow). In the West they were looking at him more and more closely. Ex-president France's Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, in his book “Power and Life” (1990), recalling his meeting with Romanov in the summer of 1973, noted that he differed from others in the Soviet leadership in his “ease of compulsion, clear acuity of mind.”

Western analysts and Sovietologists saw this well and made efforts to ensure that the myth of the “Leningrad dictator” appeared in the USSR as a gray, limited man who suppressed the slightest dissent. Our dissident intelligentsia picked up this myth, accompanying it with slander. The most common slander is about the alleged use by the family of Grigory Vasilyevich of an ancient service from the Hermitage. Anti-Soviet “intellectuals” did not heed the statement of the director of the Hermitage, Academician Piotrovsky, that this did not and could not have happened. Of course, they could not forgive Romanov for his love for Russian and Soviet classics and, in particular, his respectful attitude towards the Leningrad State Academic Drama Theater named after. A.S. Pushkin and his artistic director Igor Gorbachev.

But the intellectual anti-Sovietists do their best to keep silent about one fact. It happened at the end of a performance in one of the popular drama theaters in Leningrad. Grigory Vasilyevich watched the performance and came to the actors to thank them for talented game. One of them, a very famous one, turned to him: “Grigory Vasilyevich, you are our benefactor. I come to you with the humblest request: some land, some land for my dacha.” Romanov’s reaction was immediate: “You are forgetting yourself. I don’t sell land.”

Antipode of Gorbachev

After the death of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee K.U. Chernenko Romanov was a real candidate for the main role in the party. He learned about the death of the General Secretary on television (a day later than it happened), while on vacation in Sochi, where he was almost forcibly sent by M. Gorbachev, who practically served as the General Secretary of the Party Central Committee during Chernenko’s illness. With great difficulty, Grigory Vasilyevich flew to Moscow - for some reason (?) the plane’s departure was delayed. He arrived at the Politburo meeting when the question of electing the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee was already decided. Romanov’s supporters, Shcherbitsky and Kunaev, were not present at this meeting. The reasons for their absence were also well organized by Gorbachev’s team: the first was allegedly detained out of necessity in the USA, where he was sent; the second was notified of the death of the Secretary General late. At the suggestion of A. Gromyko, one candidate was nominated for the upcoming plenum of the Central Committee - Mikhail Gorbachev.

Gorbachev saw his antipode in Romanov, but, of course, was unable to admit this. In characterizing the rebellious Leningrader, he attributed to him what he himself suffered from: narrow-mindedness and deceit. Speaking about a man of great talent, Gorbachev argued that “one could rarely expect a sensible thought from him.” Dullness always takes revenge on talent.

In July 1985, the plenum of the Central Committee released G.V. Romanov “from his duties as a member of the Politburo and secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in connection with his retirement for health reasons.” Everyone understood everything: Gorbachev was in a hurry to get rid of his antipode in the party leadership. Is 62 years old for a politician? Grigory Vasilyevich was filled with strength and desire to work for the good of the party and the people. He appealed to the Secretary General with a request to reinstate him to party work, but was refused. Gorbachev wrote in his memoirs: “Having met with Romanov, I made it clear quite frankly that there was no place for him in the leadership.”

We know very well who had a place there.

The Courage of a Stoic

Just as heroism is an alternative to betrayal, and creation is an alternative to destruction, so Grigory Romanov was an alternative to Mikhail Gorbachev. In the West, they were well aware of this, as Alexander Zinoviev wrote: “Brezhnev was ill. His days were numbered. Other members of the Politburo are also sick old people. Romanov and Gorbachev began to appear as future leaders of the party... Having thoroughly studied the qualities of both (and perhaps having somehow “hooked” Gorbachev earlier), the relevant services in the West decided to eliminate Romanov and clear the way for Gorbachev. In means mass media slander against Romanov was invented and launched...” And then A. Zinoviev said that this was a reproach to us communists shameful page history of the CPSU: “The inventors of slander were confident that Romanov’s “comrades-in-arms” would not defend him. And so it happened... No one came out in defense of Romanov.” Cowardice and indifference in the party pave the way for shameless arrogance and betrayal, which is exactly what happened. This is a moral lesson for us. To forget it means to lose your conscience.

Grigory Vasilyevich was very worried about his insecurity. After being expelled from retirement, he remained isolated from the party for a long time, almost throughout the “perestroika”. Few people called him and rarely anyone came, except for his most trusted friends. He was under the surveillance of Gorbachev's spies. Romanov stoically, courageously, and with honor, withstood the political and moral blockade. Didn't bend, didn't break, didn't get embittered. Maintained fortitude and clarity of mind. He was not only a political, but also a moral alternative to Gorbachev.

Romanov adhered to a Puritan lifestyle. Together with his family of six people, he lived in a three-room apartment. He did not tolerate and did not forgive hobbies for materialism. He directly told the leading party workers of Smolny: “Who wants to buy a car and build a dacha - please. But first, write a letter of resignation.” Grigory Vasilyevich was ready for the vicissitudes of fate and never complained about it. I didn’t complain to anyone, I didn’t ask anyone for anything. He was a proud man, independent to the point of scrupulousness. He knew how to take a punch. During “perestroika” he remained rebellious and unconquered. The same can be said about the subsequent times of Romanov’s life.

Legendary person

Grigory Vasilyevich became a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation immediately after its II (restoration) congress. He created a community of Leningraders in Moscow and led it until the last day of his life. Provided invaluable assistance to the Leningrad regional organization of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation in the elections State Duma Russian Federation in 1995. He called and wrote to his colleagues from many years of work in the city and region, where they remembered him more and more often. More than once I witnessed how people at a rally, on the train, in a store said that they saw Romanov either in the city or in the region. I knew that this could not have happened: Grigory Vasilyevich did not leave Moscow, since his wife had been unwell for a long time. I did not try to dissuade my comrades, because I understood: they “saw” him because they really wanted to see him. They wanted order and confidence in the future. Romanov was for Leningraders a symbol of the spirit of Soviet times, when everything was as it should and as needed. It was a symbol of faith for them, and that’s why they saw it. He became a living legend. People like him are not forgotten by the people, just as happiness and joy are not forgotten. They remember not only the great deeds associated with his name, but also his always confident voice, his simplicity, sincerity and openness in communicating with others.

They remember his humanity and nobility. His strict demands, about which there were legends: strict, but fair; First of all, he does not spare himself and does not let anyone down, in a word - a Man!

Leningrad, which became the city of Romanov’s beautiful, heroic fate, the city to which he gave everything he had - talent, soul, selfless work - will never forget him. Leningrad will always be grateful to him.

“WE SURVIVED THE BLOCKADE, AND YOU WILL NOT GIVE US ONIONS”

Once, a long time ago, dad returned from work excited and preoccupied. My mother and I began to wonder what was the matter? It turned out that the poultry farm, which was being built in the region by the construction department where dad worked, would be inspected tomorrow by Grigory Romanov. The boss instructed his father to accompany the distinguished guest with him and answer his questions.

The next day, dad shared with us his impressions of a meeting with a major party leader: “Both construction and Agriculture he knows the region thoroughly. He asked questions clearly and specifically.”

Romanov really wanted to solve the food problem in Leningrad, recalls the famous St. Petersburg journalist, and in the seventies, assistant to the first secretary Alexander Yurkov. - Every morning, reports were placed on his desk: how much meat, butter, and milk were in the city. Agro-industrial associations are one of his favorite brainchildren; they were supposed to feed the region.

Alexander Yurkov told a funny story. One day there was a shortage of onions in the city. It turned out that due to bureaucratic delays, Georgia had not been supplying it to Leningrad for several days.

In my presence, Romanov called the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, - Alexander Alexandrovich smiles. - Grigory Vasilyevich spoke seemingly jokingly, but with metal in his voice: they say, we survived the blockade, but you don’t give us onions. Resolve the issue quickly.

Soon onions reappeared on the shelves of Leningrad stores.

I WANTED TO GET RID OF LIMITERS

Another high-profile initiative of Grigory Romanov is the organization of a vocational education system in Leningrad. Industrial enterprises, including many defense plants, were chronically short of labor. Workers had to be invited from other regions. This did not improve the criminal situation in the Northern capital; moreover, it was necessary to build dormitories for the limiters. Therefore, the idea of ​​opening a network of vocational schools in the city was progressive for that time. Another thing is that it was carried out, so to speak, by force. Upon finishing the eighth grade, the student by law had the right to either go to the ninth or transfer to a vocational school. In reality, school directors, under various pretexts, tried to send as many children as possible to school.

It seems that if the network of vocational schools had not been destroyed in the nineties of the last century, now workshops and construction sites might not have been filled with unskilled migrants who speak Russian poorly.

NOT GOING TO THEATERS

Grigory Vasilyevich was intolerant of any dissent. He had a difficult relationship with the creative intelligentsia.

This is partly due to the fact that shortly before Romanov's election two incidents occurred. On January 22, 1969, five days before the celebration of the quarter-century anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, a native of our city, junior lieutenant of the Soviet Army Viktor Ilyin made an attempt on the life of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev. And on June 15, 1970, at Rzhevka airport, “persons of Jewish nationality” made the first attempt to hijack a Soviet plane abroad.

The new first secretary decided that the screws needed to be tightened. He was apparently convinced that even a little freedom of speech and creative thought would not lead to good. During the years of Romanov's rule, several trials of dissidents took place in Leningrad, and many cultural figures moved to Moscow or even abroad.

Romanov, for example, did not like Arkady Raikin and actually forced him to move to the capital, says Alexander Yurkov. - You know, I am inclined to explain such actions of the first secretary also by a lack of internal culture and education. After all, he was born into a large peasant family, then he fought, graduated from college in absentia, and worked in the design bureau at the Zhdanov plant, now Severnaya Verf. Did he care about theaters?

Romanov was also distrustful of another outstanding cultural figure, director Georgy Tovstonogov.

The premiere of the play “Khanuma” took place on the last day of 1972, - BDT set designer Eduard Kochergin shares his memories. - There were rumors in the theater and around the city that they wanted to remove Georgy Alexandrovich from Leningrad and transfer him to the capital. All members of our team came to the premiere, many with their families. After the performance we all met together New Year. Thus, the team expressed support for its leader. I don’t know if this helped or something else, but Tovstonogov remained in Leningrad.

LET THEM BE SICK

During the so-called “period of stagnation,” sport remained, in fact, the only area where people could relatively freely express their feelings and thoughts. According to eyewitnesses, Grigory Romanov was indifferent not only to culture, but also to sports. Although almost during his reign, SKA and Zenit won medals for the first time in their history, and basketball Spartak even became the national champion.

One day, the first secretary looked into Yubileiny for a match in which Spartak and CSKA met, recalls Honored Coach of Russia Anatoly Steinbok. - The famous confrontation Kondrashin - Gomelsky, roar of the stands. After the game, the guest put it briefly: “It’s better to shout “Down with Gomelsky!” than “Down with the CPSU!”

SPECIFICALLY

During the thirteen “Romanov” years, more than fifty scientific and production associations appeared in Leningrad.

The famous Kirovets tractors and the Arktika icebreaker were assembled in the city.

Leningrad residents were moved from communal apartments to separate apartments.

Nineteen new subway stations were opened. By the way, the metro is still developing according to schemes developed in the late seventies.

INTERESTING CASE

In the seventies, such a story happened in one of the Leningrad newspapers. The bridge opened, and the first secretary of the regional party committee, candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, Grigory Romanov, came to the ceremony. The young reporter prepared material about this event, naming Romanov in the text... as a candidate member of the CPSU. Although the material was proofread by several people, the error was only “caught” by the editor of the issue at the very last moment. The reporter, who has long since turned grey, has climbed the career ladder, still considers that editor his savior.

However, the vigilant production editor also saved himself and the editor-in-chief. If the newspaper had published such a mistake, all three would probably have been fired.

INTRIGUE AT THE TOP

He knew too much

In the summer of 1983, Yuri Andropov, recently elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, transferred Romanov himself to Moscow, who became Secretary of the Central Committee. After this, foreign political scientists and domestic “Kremlin experts” began to consider him as a candidate for the role of leader of the country. Indeed, Grigory Vasilyevich was much younger than most of his colleagues in the Politburo, and was distinguished by his enviable efficiency and determination. However, the Leningrader also had opponents in the upper echelons of power. An unfounded rumor began to gain momentum again that the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee celebrated his daughter’s wedding in the Tauride Palace, and at the height of the celebration, tipsy guests broke an antique service from the Hermitage. In addition, according to unofficial information, some members of the political borough believed that our country could not be led by a person named Romanov - this would give rise to inappropriate associations.

In the early spring of 1985, when Konstantin Chernenko, who replaced Yuri Andropov as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, was living out his last days, the contender for the highest post in the party, Grigory Romanov, for some reason was on vacation in a remote area of ​​Lithuania. In fact, he did not participate in the fierce struggle for power that unfolded after Chernenko’s death, which ended in the victory of Mikhail Gorbachev.

On July 1, 1985, Grigory Romanov was relieved of all posts “for health reasons.” After this, the former owner of Leningrad led a secluded life: he did not appear in public, did not comment on the actions Russian authorities, almost never gave interviews. He probably agreed with one of the ancient politicians: “If I tell everything I know, the world will tremble.”

Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov was called “master” in Leningrad. His activities are assessed differently: some consider Romanov a strong leader and a good organizer, others consider him a tyrant who stifled dissent. In the mid-1980s, Romanov was tipped for the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and was considered as the main competitor of Mikhail Gorbachev.

Beginning of party career

Grigory Romanov was born in the Novgorod region in a village large family. During the Great Patriotic War he fought on the Leningrad and Baltic fronts. After the war he graduated from the Leningrad Shipbuilding University. In the mid-50s, his party career began, first at the Leningrad Zhdanov plant, where Grigory Vasilyevich worked, then Romanov began to be promoted higher up the party line.

From September 1970 to June 1983, G.V. Romanov headed the Leningrad City Party Committee, becoming the de facto head of the city on the Neva.

Builder and oppressor

These 13 years are key in Romanov’s biography. For them they both thank him and curse him. Under Grigory Vasilyevich, 19 Leningrad metro stations, a large sports and cultural complex, and the Youth Palace were opened... At this time, Leningrad factories produced such world-famous brands as the Kirovets tractor (K-700, which is still successfully used in many farms), ice drift "Arktika", the first to reach the North Pole. Under Romanov, the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant was launched.

At the same time, Grigory Romanov is associated with repressions against representatives of culture and art, in particular, the persecution of dissidents. ABOUT negative impact Romanov is said by some figures from Leningrad television and the Tovstonogov BDT theater. At the same time, the Leningrad Rock Club has been operating in Leningrad since 1981, and since 1975 the first rock opera in the USSR, “Orpheus and Eurydice,” has been performed.

There is no unambiguous assessment of Romanov’s attitude towards all these persecutions. Skeptics argue that Grigory Vasilyevich was not such a monster as they want to show him. In particular, Academician Dmitry Likhachev, who repeatedly met with the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee, said that, despite his complex character, it was still “possible to come to an agreement.” Under Romanov, many Leningrad dissidents were indeed arrested or expelled (from the country, to remote regions of the USSR). However, this issue was then dealt with by the “profile” Fifth Directorate of the KGB, and it is unlikely that the personal intervention of the first secretary of the regional committee was required to speed up this process.

However, shortly before his death, Grigory Vasilyevich, in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta, openly admitted his dislike for the work of the writer Daniil Granin - Romanov did not like the writer’s attitude towards the Leningrad blockade. The famous “Siege Book” by D. Granin and A. Adamovich in Leningrad was published only when G. V. Romanov moved to work in Moscow in 1984.

The demonization of the “owner” of the city on the Neva was facilitated by the story of “dishes from the Hermitage”, which Grigory Romanov allegedly used at his daughter’s wedding. This fact, although widely discussed in the foreign press even under Soviet rule, was never confirmed.

Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee

Since 1983, Romanov has been in Moscow, he joined the secretariat of the Central Committee Communist Party Soviet Union, oversaw the military-industrial complex in this capacity. According to the official, Brezhnev “pulled” him to Moscow. Some historians and political scientists believe that a relatively young and promising politician, Romanov, at one time could hypothetically replace three general secretaries– Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko: every time he had such an opportunity. But as a result of internal party intrigues of stronger competitors and their supporters, Romanov failed to do this every time.

Why didn't he become secretary general?

Grigory Romanov is considered the antipode of Gorbachev. The leaders of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation still believe that if Grigory Vasilyevich had taken the place of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee after the death of K. U. Chernenko - instead of Gorbachev, then the USSR would not have collapsed: the West, afraid of the intractable Romanov, was betting on Gorbachev.

When Chernenko died, Romanov was on vacation in Sochi. When Grigory Vasilyevich arrived in Moscow, everything had already been decided without him. Romanov’s team included 2 more members of the Central Committee - Shcherbitsky and Kunaev. Allegedly, both did not arrive at the decisive meeting of the plenum of the Central Committee due to the fault of Gorbachev’s supporters. Shcherbitsky was on a business trip to the USA, and Kunaev was simply not notified in time about the death of Konstantin Ustinovich. As a result, only one candidate for the post of Secretary General of the party’s central committee was discussed at the plenum - M. S. Gorbachev. In essence, Mikhail Sergeevich performed the duties of K.U. Chernenko during his illness.

How a member of the Politburo found himself out of work

In March 1985, Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and already in July, G.V. Romanov, by decision of the plenum of the Central Committee, was removed from the Politburo and the Secretariat of the Central Committee, explaining this by his retirement “for health reasons.” Although Romanov was only 62 years old at that time, for a politician this is just a mature age. They say that Romanov asked Gorbachev for leadership work, but was refused.

Over the 23 years of his subsequent life, G.V. Romanov no longer held any key positions. In 1998, Yeltsin awarded him a personal pension for his great contribution to the development of domestic industry.

Grigory Romanov died in 2008 in Moscow and was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery.

On February 7, 1923, Grigory Romanov, head of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU, “Master of Leningrad,” was born.

Private bussiness

Grigory Vasilievich Romanov (1923—2008) born in the village of Zikhnovo, Novgorod region. He was the sixth most youngest child in a large peasant family. In 1938, Grigory graduated with honors from junior high school and entered the Leningrad Shipbuilding College.

During the Great Patriotic War was a signalman on the Leningrad and Baltic fronts. In 1944 he joined the CPSU(b). At the end of the war, he returned to the technical school and in 1946 defended his diploma with honors, receiving the specialty of a shipbuilding technician, after which he was sent to work at TsKB-53 of the A. A. Zhdanov shipyard in Leningrad.

In 1953, Romanov graduated in absentia from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute with a degree in shipbuilding engineer. In 1954-1957 he held the positions of secretary of the party committee, and then party organizer of the CPSU Central Committee at the same plant.

Subsequently, his career developed along the party line. In 1957-1961, Romanov served as secretary, first secretary of the Kirov district committee of the CPSU of Leningrad. In 1961-1962 - Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU. In 1962-1963, secretary, in 1963-1970 - second secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU.

On September 16, 1970, he was appointed first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU and held this post until 1983. In 1983 he moved to Moscow.

For twenty years, from 1966 to 1986, he was a member of the CPSU Central Committee. From 1976 to 1985 - member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1983-1985, after moving to Moscow, he was Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, responsible for the military-industrial complex.

After Mikhail Gorbachev came to power, he moved away from political activity. On July 1, 1985, Romanov was removed from the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and sent into retirement “for health reasons.”

Grigory Romanov spent the last years of his life in Moscow, with his eldest daughter Valentina. Died on June 3, 2008. He was buried at the Kuntsevo cemetery.

What is he famous for?

Grigory Romanov, the most influential of the Brezhnev-era “governors,” ruled Leningrad for a total of 13 years. In the city they called him “The Boss.” The “Romanov” era was remembered for massive construction, and his name became part of folk toponymy. Thus, the complex of structures for protecting Leningrad from floods, the construction of which began under him, began to be popularly called the “Romanovna Dam”.

The most famous joke about the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee sounded like this: “In Leningrad everything is as before: Zimny ​​stands, Eliseev trades, Romanov rules.”

During the years that Romanov ruled, the region experienced serious positive changes in agriculture, education and health care; greatest number metro stations and housing, there was an active resettlement of hostels. Under him, the largest scientific and production associations were created in Leningrad. “Romanov was one of the few who sought and found a concrete way to combine the advantages of a planned socialist economy with the achievements of scientific and technological progress,” Yuri Belov wrote about him.

However, the period of Romanov’s “management” is associated not only with massive construction projects and attempts to solve social problems, but also persecution of cultural figures and the active suppression of all forms of the dissident movement in Leningrad.

According to the memoirs of Galina Mshanskaya, who had worked at Leningrad Television since 1961, the city had blacklists of artists who were denied access to television and radio broadcasts. In addition, Sergei Yursky and Arkady Raikin were secretly banned. According to human rights activist Yuri Vdovin, during Romanov’s reign, many musicians, actors and artists moved from Leningrad to Moscow because “it was impossible to work under Romanov.”

Under Romanov, Joseph Brodsky and Sergei Dovlatov were expelled from the USSR, although this decision was not made at the city level.

In 2010, the government of St. Petersburg adopted a resolution to install a memorial plaque to Grigory Romanov in the city, which caused indignation among the St. Petersburg intelligentsia. An appeal demanding the cancellation of this decision was signed by Boris Strugatsky, Alexey German, Oleg Basilashvili, Alexander Kushner, Henrietta Yanovskaya, Yuri Shevchuk and many other artists and human rights activists.

“We remember well the first secretary of the regional committee of the CPSU Grigory Romanov - a man who stifled culture, science, art and freedom, who hated the intelligentsia, expelled artists, poets and painters from the city, and did everything to turn Leningrad into “a great city with a regional destiny,” - says the article, the authors of which demanded the immediate repeal of “this outrageous resolution.”

Despite public protests, in May 2011, a memorial plaque was installed on the facade of house 1/5 on Kuibysheva Street. In February 2012, unknown persons poured blood-red paint over the memorial plaque, as well as the wall next to it.

What you need to know

Grigory Romanov

Grigory Romanov was a real contender for the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee after the deaths of both Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko.

According to Romanov himself, Brezhnev called him his successor. “Leonid Ilyich often told me: “You, Grigory, will take my place.” And he told Fidel Castro that Romanov would be there, and Giscard D'Estaing. I was in very good standing with Brezhnev. And when Andropov came, he directly told me: “I need you in Moscow. Ustinov is breaking wood, spending a lot of money on the defense industry , we no longer have enough,” Romanov said in an interview with Russian Life magazine.

Western Sovietologists also named Romanov among possible successors to Leonid Brezhnev back in the late 1970s, as he was considered a strong political player.

It is believed that it was precisely to weaken the position of Grigory Romanov that the rumor was started that the first secretary of the Leningrad regional committee allegedly in 1974 celebrated the wedding of his youngest daughter on a grand scale in the Tauride Palace, “borrowing” for this purpose from the Hermitage an antique royal ceremonial service for 144 people , which the guests partially smashed at the height of the holiday. The sensation was published by the German magazine Der Spiegel, and then it was retold by Radio Liberty and the Voice of America. As a result, rumors about the wedding spread instantly, despite the fact that Soviet newspapers wrote nothing about it.

According to former first Secretary of the Kronstadt District Party Committee Viktor Lobko, the spread of the story could be beneficial to Chernenko, who at that time headed the general department of the CPSU Central Committee and wanted to replace Brezhnev as General Secretary. “In those days, Romanov was only 60 years old, and he could well have been considered the main candidate for the post of Secretary General. Chernenko understood this and sent information around the country that said in a streamlined form: “In the Leningrad organization of the CPSU there are leaders who allow themselves...”, and so on. But the last name was not mentioned. Everyone knew Romanov, but one could only guess about the leader in question. The information was immediately actively picked up by the Western media and went to promote it,” Lobko said in an interview with the St. Petersburg weekly Delo.

To verify this information, allegedly, the Supreme Council of the RSFSR even established a special commission, which found that the rumor did not contain a word of truth, but this story affected all future political career Grigory Romanov and may have cost him the post of General Secretary.

According to contemporaries, it was Romanov that Yuri Andropov wanted to see as his successor, but after his death, the already seriously ill Chernenko, who suited everyone, was chosen. At the time of Chernenko’s death, Romanov was on vacation in Palanga, Lithuania. According to Romanov, neither he nor Gorbachev’s other opponents were notified of the extraordinary plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, which took place the day after Chernenko’s death, so Gorbachev was approved by the General Secretary in the absence of competitors.

Many believe that the victory of Grigory Romanov would mean a fundamentally different scenario for the future life of the USSR. Romanov “would have taken all measures and would not have allowed the deliberate collapse of the Soviet Union,” argued Anatoly Lukyanov.

“If instead of Gorbachev, Grigory Romanov had been chosen for the post of General Secretary (and he was one step away from this), then you and I would still continue to live in the Soviet Union, of course, reformed, modernized, but prosperous and strong,” also Oleg Baklanov is sure.

The techno-opera “2032: Legend of the Unfulfilled Future” by composer Viktor Argonov, created in 2007, shows an alternative future in which Grigory Romanov, after the death of Chernenko, is elected general secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, as a result of which the USSR manages to avoid stagnation and collapse.

Direct speech

“The story of Romanov’s personality is remarkable in that at first it will seem typical for many in Soviet times. The atypicality begins with the manifestation of his remarkable mind as an organizer, capable of recognizing the national significance of his current work, like everyone else’s, and raising it to the highest possible level. Organizational talent is a rare phenomenon at all times. He singled out Romanov among many,” Yuri Belov.

“He was a man of his time. Leningrad defended during the war. Received a thorough technical education. Built ships. To some extent, his worldview had a sign of technocracy, which had a positive effect on the style of his party and state work. And in personal terms, Grigory Romanov gave the impression of a deeply decent, principled person,” from the memoirs of Oleg Baklanov, Minister of General Engineering of the USSR.

“He was the city’s first anti-Semite! He fiercely hated and persecuted all cultural figures who “did not adapt”,” writer Nina Katerli about Grigory Romanov.

“I stopped the publication of Dmitry Sergeevich Likhachev’s book “Byzantine Legends”. The editor of this book was Sofya Polyakova, a Jew. I invite Likhachev to my place and ask him directly: “Why do you attract such people to work?” He asks: “Which ones?” Me: “Those that are not needed.” He: “Jews, or what?” Me: “Yes.” For some reason, this also offended him, although I was right - the Jews then took anti-Soviet positions, and we had to prevent their activities,” Grigory Romanov. "Master of Leningrad"

5 facts about Grigory Romanov

• At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Gregory began an affair with a girl, Anya. However, her father did not like the student at the shipbuilding college. During the blockade, Anya found Grigory Romanov in the hospital where he was lying and recovering from dystrophy. After the war she became his wife.
• Grigory Romanov survived all 900 days of the siege in Leningrad. And until the end of his life, everything connected with the blockade, according to the recollections of contemporaries, “was painted a special color for Romanov.” A person’s request was treated with special care if it was a request from a blockade survivor. At the same time, Romanov had a sharply negative attitude towards Daniil Granin, towards what he said and wrote about the blockade, in particular, in the “Siege Book”.
• According to the memoirs of Dmitry Likhachev, a podium was installed in Grigory Romanov’s office, thanks to which he always towered above his interlocutor.
• By decree of the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin in 1998, Romanov was established a personal pension for his significant contribution to the development of domestic mechanical engineering and the defense industry.
• Grigory Romanov remained a communist until the end of his life. After the liquidation of the CPSU, he joined the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and was a member of the Central Advisory Council under the Central Committee of the party. Paid membership dues to the Communist Party until last days own life.

Materials about Grigory Romanov

St. Petersburg Vice-Governor Viktor Lobko: “Grigory Romanov was a real citizen of Russia”

Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg expressed his condolences on the death of the former first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU . As the correspondent reports IA REGNUM , Lobko noted that “all St. Petersburg residents know the name of Romanov, since he played a very significant role in the history of this city.” “This was a real Russian citizen,” the official said.

According to Lobko, it was during the period of Romanov’s leadership of the city that “the most rapid growth housing construction, when people were pulled out of the slums." "There was also a dawn in many cultural areas. It's a shame that he passed away. He lived for the city, the country. Romanov was a very talented and capable organizer,” Lobko said.

Today, June 3, statesman Grigory Romanov passed away in St. Petersburg at the age of 86.

From September 1970 to 1983, Grigory Romanov was the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU, and from 1971 - a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

Died in St. Petersburg former manager Leningrad Grigory Romanov (http://www.regnum.ru/news/1009470.html )

NEWSru.com:: In Russia

Grigory Romanov, the failed successor to General Secretary Brezhnev, died at the age of 86

Died in St. Petersburg at the age of 86Grigory Romanov , Soviet party and statesman, who for many years was the first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU.

He was called one of the most influential politicians of the Soviet era. Romanov's character was harsh and tough, many even compared him to Stalin. And the people of St. Petersburg called the time of his reign a “police regime.”

Romanov led the Leningrad regional party committee for 15 years. From 1970 to 1985 - under the General Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko.

Short in stature and very arrogant, he established strict ideological control over the city. The liberal intelligentsia despised him. First of all, because of the powerful pressure on cultural figures. How reminiscent"Echo of Moscow" , Arkady Raikin could not withstand the constant pressure from the Leningrad authorities and, together with his theater, was forced to move to Moscow. And the writer Daniil Granin, already during the years of perestroika, wrote an ironic novel in which a short regional leader turns from constant lies into a dwarf. Everyone immediately recognized this hero as Grigory Romanov.

There were many rumors about Romanov - about his relationship with the popular singer Lyudmila Senchina, although she herself denies this, abouthis daughter's wedding in the Tauride Palace with dishes from the Hermitage. Then, for several years, the society noisily discussed the service from the Hermitage broken by the guests, and then it turned out that there was no service or wedding in the palace. But this became clear only after the intensity of popular indignation reached its limit.

At the turn of the 80s, Romanov was unofficially considered one of the possible candidates for the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee. Back in 1975, an American magazine Newsweek called him the most likely successor to Leonid Brezhnev. However, Mikhail Gorbachev won the power struggle in March 1985 and Romanov was sent into retirement.

According to Fontanka.ru , recently Romanov lived in the country and did not write memoirs. On February 7, 2008, he celebrated his 85th birthday. The place of Grigory Romanov's funeral has not yet been announced.

Wedding in Tauride and Kremlin wars

At the end of the 18th century, Prince Potemkin organized magnificent receptions for several thousand people in the Catherine Hall of the Tauride Palace. Empress Catherine herself was a frequent guest. When in the eighties of the 20th century the news spread around Leningrad and the entire USSR that the first secretary of the regional party committee had arranged the wedding of his daughter in Tavrichesky, and had even “rented” the royal service from the Hermitage and had not returned half of it, letters poured in to the Politburo from angry communists.

A German magazine created a sensation Spiegel . Radio Liberty and Voice of America retold the article. Rumors of the wedding spread overnight. Romanov remained silent, considering it wrong to comment on foreign gossip. Soviet newspapers did not write about this, they report"News".

“Andropov told me this: don’t pay attention. We know that nothing like that happened. I say: Yuri Vladimirovich, but you can give information about what didn’t happen! “Okay, we’ll figure it out,” Romanov recalled.

Natalya, the youngest daughter of Grigory Romanov, still lives in St. Petersburg. Doesn't give interviews as a matter of principle. According to her husband, there were only 10 people at their wedding, which took place in 1974 and captured the imagination of thousands of working people. The celebration was very modest. “This, of course, is stupidity. The wedding was at a dacha. A state dacha, by the way. And the next day we left on a ship along the Volga. To travel. There was no Tauride. And there was no Hermitage,” recalls Lev Radchenko.

When the scandal with the mythical wedding subsided, Romanov took up Leningrad. Over 10 years, almost 100 million square meters of housing were built in the city. The Leningrad "master" was noticed. Such an active regional leader suited the center.

“He had an exceptional relationship with Brezhnev. About two or three years before Brezhnev’s death, the relationship was very good. He trusted him very much. He himself called Leningrad and home,” recalls Romanov’s second daughter Valentina. But Romanov did not enjoy the General Secretary’s favor for long.

However, in 1983 he was invited to Moscow. The new General Secretary, Yuri Andropov, instructed him to oversee the military-industrial complex. But second secretary Mikhail Gorbachev began to appear more and more often next to Andropov - he was entrusted with agriculture. Gorbachev also enjoyed the obvious support of the next general - Konstantin Chernenko.

“Relations were strained between them. We all felt it. And Gorbachev used various methods to not directly, but somehow indirectly present him in a negative form,” former head of the Council of Ministers Vitaly Vorotnikov says about the relationship between Gorbachev and Romanov.

When Chernenko died, Romanov was in the Baltic states. Two other members of the Politburo were also absent. But they decided not to wait and hold an emergency plenum. No one doubted that the next Secretary General would be the one who would be supported by the most influential person in the Politburo - Andrei Gromyko.

Yegor Ligachev undertook to persuade him. “On the eve of the opening of the plenum, Gromyko called me. And he said: Yegor Kuzmich, who will we elect as general secretary? I told him: we need Gorbachev. He says: I also think that we need Gorbachev. And tell me, who could make a proposal? I say: best of all to you, Andrey Andreevich. He says: I also think that I need to make a proposal,” recalls Ligachev.

Romanov’s relationship with Gorbachev and his entourage did not work out. He left the political scene. The official wording is at will and health status. But the “wedding” story haunted even the pensioner Romanov. Before the election of the first president of the USSR, the Supreme Council even created a commission and conducted its own investigation. But they never found anything untoward.

Reference: Grigory Romanov

Romanov Grigory Vasilievich was born in the village of Zikhnovo, now Vorovichi district of the Novgorod region. Member of the CPSU since 1944. Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1976-1985); candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee (1973-1976), secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1983-1985), member of the CPSU Central Committee (1966-1986).

Participant of the Great Patriotic War; from 1946 he worked as a designer, head of the sector of the Central Design Bureau of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry; in 1953 he graduated from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute in absentia; 1954-1961 - secretary of the plant party committee, secretary, first secretary of the Kirov district party committee of Leningrad;

1961-1963 - secretary of the Leningrad city committee, secretary of the regional party committee; 1963-1970 - second secretary, 1970-1983 - first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU; elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 7th-11th convocations; Hero of Socialist Labor; since 1985 - retired.

Grigory Romanov was awarded 3 Orders of Lenin, the Order October revolution, orders of the Red Banner of Labor, "Badge of Honor" and medals.

St. Petersburg residents owe Romanov the beginning of the construction of the famous dam, designed to protect the city from floods, and the development of the metro - 19 stations were built during this period.

Updated 2008-06-03 at 13:06:33

The inevitable happened - Mikhail Gorbachev’s competitor in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, Grigory Romanov, died

In St. Petersburg, at the age of 86, the former first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU Grigory Romanov, a Soviet party and statesman, died. Recently he lived in the country and did not write memoirs. On February 7, 2008, he celebrated his 85th birthday.

Grigory Romanov led the Leningrad party organization from 1970 to 1985, when Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko were at the head of the country. St. Petersburg residents owe him the beginning of the construction of the famous dam, designed to protect the city from floods, and the development of the metro - 19 stations were built during this period.

In the early 80s, Romanov was tipped for the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1983 he became secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, but immediately after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power he was sent into retirement.

Romanov Grigory Vasilievich was born on February 7, 1923 in the village of Zikhnovo, now Vorovichi district of the Novgorod region.

Member of the CPSU since 1944.

Candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee from 1973 to 1976.

Member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee from 1976 to 1985.

Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee from 1983 to 1985.

Member of the CPSU Central Committee from 1966 to 1986.

Participant of the Great Patriotic War; from 1946 he worked as a designer, head of the sector of the Central Design Bureau of the Ministry of Shipbuilding Industry. In 1953 he graduated in absentia from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute; 1954-1961 - secretary of the plant party committee, secretary, first secretary of the Kirov district party committee of Leningrad; 1961-1963 - secretary of the Leningrad city committee, secretary of the regional party committee; 1963-1970 - second secretary, 1970-1983 - first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the CPSU; elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 7th-11th convocations; Hero of Socialist Labor. Since 1985 - retired.

Romanov was the party leader of Leningrad in 1970-1985, when Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko were at the head of the state.

In the late 70s and early 80s, he was unofficially considered one of the possible candidates for the post of head of the Soviet state.

Romanov became one of the iconic figures of the era of stagnation, becoming famous for his tough measures to establish ideological control over the city he led.

Among the cultural and artistic figures forced to leave Leningrad due to powerful ideological pressure were Arkady Raikin and Sergei Yursky.

Grigory Romanov was retired in the summer of 1985, a few months after Mikhail Gorbachev came to power.