The grave of the Soviet statesman Andrei Gromyko at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Russia
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (18 July 1909 in Staryja Hramyki, now Belarus - 2 July 1989 in Moscow, now Russia) was a Soviet statesman from the beginning to the end of the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR from 1957 to 1985, and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, from 1985 to 1987. Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy. He retired in 1987. In the West he was given the nickname Mr. Nyet, literally translating Mr. No. Gromyko's political career started in 1939 with his employment at the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (later renamed Ministry of Foreign Affairs). In 1943, Gromyko became the Soviet ambassador to the United States but left in 1946 to become the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Upon his return to the Soviet Union, he became a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, and later, the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR only to become the Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1952. As Soviet Foreign Minister, Gromyko played a direct role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Gromyko helped negotiate arms limitations treaties, specifically the ABM Treaty, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and SALT I and II among others. Under Leonid Brezhnev's leadership, Gromyko helped build the policy of détente between the US and the USSR. He supported Mikhail Gorbachev's candidacy for General Secretary in 1985. When Gorbachev became General Secretary, Gromyko lost his office as foreign minister and was instead appointed to the largely ceremonial office of head of state. Gromyko retired from political life in 1988 and died the following year in Moscow on 2 July 1989.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Novodevichy Cemetery, 2 Luzhnetski Proezd, Moscow, Moscow Oblast, Russia, Eastern Europe, Europe
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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