Vyacheslav Molotov

Vyacheslav Molotov HSL
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union
In office 19 December 1930 – 6 May 1941
Preceded by	Alexei Rykov
Succeeded by	Joseph Stalin
First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
In office 16 August 1942 – 29 June 1957
Premier	Joseph Stalin Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin
Preceded by	Nikolai Voznesensky
Succeeded by	Nikolai Bulganin
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 3 May 1939 – 4 March 1949
Premier	Joseph Stalin
Preceded by	Maxim Litvinov
Succeeded by	Andrey Vyshinsky
In office 5 March 1953 – 1 June 1956
Premier	Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin
Preceded by	Andrey Vyshinsky
Succeeded by	Dmitri Shepilov
Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Acting
In office April 1922 – December 1930
Preceded by	position established
Succeeded by	Lazar Kaganovich
Responsible Secretary of the Russian Communist Party (Bolshevik)
In office March 1921 – April 1922
Preceded by	Nikolay Krestinsky
Succeeded by	Joseph Stalin (as general secretary)
Personal details
Born	Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Skryabin (1890-03-09)9 March 1890 Kukarka, Russian Empire
Died	8 November 1986(1986-11-08) (aged 96) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Citizenship	Soviet
Nationality	Russian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse(s)	Polina Zhemchuzhina
Awards	Template:Order of the Badge of Honour
Signature

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (Russian: Вячесла́в Миха́йлович Мо́лотов; March 9 [O.S. February 25] 1890 in Kukarka – November 8, 1986 in Moscow) was a Soviet politician and diplomat. He was a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he came to power. He was a protégé of Joseph Stalin until the 1950s, when Nikita Khrushchev dismissed him from office.

Molotov was the main Soviet signatory of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. The pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union, and both countries promised not to attack each other. The pact lasted about two years until Germany started the invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.

The Molotov Cocktail, which was invented by Finns fighting in the Winter War against the Soviet invasion of Finland, is named after him.

Preceded by Alexey Rykov

Prime Minister of the Soviet Union 1930–1941

Succeeded by Joseph Stalin