Grigory Romanov (Romanov World)

Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov (7 February 1923 – 3 June 2008) was a Soviet politician who served as the sixth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 2001.

Romanov was born into a peasant family in Novgorod Oblast. He fought as a soldier during the Second World War, joining the Communist Party in 1944. He served in numerous party posts before rising to become First Secretary of the Leningrad Regional Party Committee in 1970. Romanov was promoted to the Central Committee in 1971, and became a candidate member of the Politburo in 1973 and a full member in 1976. Following the death of Konstantin Chernenko in March 1985 he was elected his successor as General Secretary.

Romanov succeeded to the leadership during the so called Era of Stagnation.