Andrei Zhdanov

Andrei Zhdanov
Андрей Жданов
Zhdanov in 1945
Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office 21 March 1939 – 31 August 1948
Preceded by	Lazar Kaganovich
Succeeded by	Georgy Malenkov
Head of the Propaganda and Agitation Department of the Central Committee
In office 21 March 1939 – 6 September 1940
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Georgy Aleksandrov
Additional positions Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR In office 15 July 1938 – 20 June 1947 Preceded by Mikhail Kalinin Succeeded by Aleksei Badayev First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee of the Soviet Union In office 15 December 1934 – 17 January 1945 Preceded by Sergei Kirov Succeeded by Alexey Kuznetsov
Personal details
Born	(1896-02-26)26 February 1896 Mariupol, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	31 August 1948(1948-08-31) (aged 52) Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Resting place	Kremlin Wall Necropolis, Moscow
Political party	RSDLP(b) (1915–1918) VKP(b) (1918–1948)
Children	Yuri
Occupation	Civil servant
Central institution membership 1939–1948: Full member, 18th Politburo 1934–1948: Member, 17th & 18th Secretariat 1934-1948: Member, 17th & 18th Orgburo 1934–1939: Candidate member, 17th Politburo 1939–1948: Full member, 17th and 18th Central Committee Other political offices held 1946–1947: Chairman, Soviet of the Union 1944-1947: Director, Allied Control Commission

Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov (Russian: Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Жда́нов, IPA: [ɐnˈdrʲej ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪdʑ ˈʐdanəf] ^ⓘ; 26 February [O.S. 14 February] 1896 – 31 August 1948) was a Soviet politician and ideologue. He has been described as the Soviet Union's "propagandist-in-chief" in the 1940s,^[1] and was responsible for developing the Soviet cultural policy, the Zhdanov Doctrine, which remained in effect until the death of Joseph Stalin. Zhdanov was considered Stalin's most likely successor but died before him.

Born in Mariupol, Russian Empire, which is in modern-day Ukraine, Zhdanov joined the Bolsheviks in 1915 and quickly rose through the party ranks. A close associate of Stalin, he became a secretary of the Central Committee in 1934, and later that year he was promoted to Leningrad party chief following the assassination of Sergei Kirov. He would go on to play a major role during the Great Purge. In 1939, he was promoted to full membership of the Politburo, Second Secretary of the Communist Party and head of the Central Committee Propaganda Department. Zhdanov's political standing was considerably undermined at the start of the Second World War, due to his association with the Soviet–Finnish War and the failure of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Nevertheless, he oversaw the Soviet takeover of Estonia, and took a leading role in the defense of Leningrad.

Zhdanov's fortunes greatly improved after the war. He played an instrumental role in formulating an aggressive foreign policy, and oversaw the creation of the Cominform in 1947. He was also tasked with directing the Soviet Union's cultural policy. His campaign, known as the Zhdanov Doctrine or Zhdanovshchina, was strictly enforced and led to the denouncement of supposedly non-conformist artists such as Anna Akhmatova and Dmitri Shostakovich. Initially considered the successor-in-waiting to Stalin, Zhdanov suffered from ill health and fell out of favour as a result of the Tito–Stalin split. He died in 1948 of heart failure and was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.