Anecdotes

Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1958-1964).

Confirmed in his memoirs that Ethel Rosenberg and Julius Rosenberg, whom many in the West believed innocent victims of the 1950's "witch hunts," did, in fact, pass atomic secrets to the Soviets, for which they were executed.

Father of Sergei Khrushchev.

First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) (1938-1947 and 1947-1949).

CPSU official.

In World War II he was Chief Political Commissar during the Battle of Stalingrad.

First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee, September 1953-October 1964.

Chosen as Time Magazine's "Man of the Year" in 1957.

Although one of Joseph Stalin's trusted assistants, he denounced and privately criticized Stalin's many crimes and atrocities to a secret session of the 20th Communist Party Congress in the Soviet Union in 1956. The speech soon leaked out to the west, sparking a fresh look at the rulers of the Soviet Union.

Played by Bob Hoskins in Stalingrad (2001).

Played by Murray Ewan in Staline (1992).

He is mentioned in the lyrics of the songs "Killer Queen" by Queen, "Russians" by Sting and "Revol" by Manic Street Preachers.