This representative of the Soviet nomenklatura tried to avoid publicity, because he was a modest and unpretentious person. However, his merits in leadership positions in the public administration system and achievements as a public figure were very great. Sergey Nikiforovich Kruglov devoted a significant segment of his life to work in law enforcement agencies, and everyone could envy his service career. Why did the leaders of the Soviet state notice it? As one of the reasons for this circumstance, the experts noted the fact that Sergey Nikiforovich Kruglov had a diploma of higher education, spoke several foreign languages, was a brilliant organizer, had a broad outlook, treated his subordinates with respect, unlike his “colleagues”, who of all the listed qualities possessed one or a maximum of two. What was remarkable in the biography of this statesman and public figure? Let's take a closer look at this issue.
Years of childhood and youth
Kruglov Sergey Nikiforovich, whose family was a peasant, was born on October 2, 1907 in a populatedpoint Ustye (Tver province).
Soon his parents move to Petrograd, where his father goes to work at a factory. But in the late 1910s, the mother, along with her offspring, returned to her former place of residence.
Already as a teenager, he began to work, namely to graze cattle. Naturally, Sergei had little time to study at school. However, in 1924 he managed to get his primary education in the city of Zubtsov. Having reached the age of seventeen, the young man got a job as a secretary of the village council in the village of Nikiforovo. For diligence in the work of a young man, after some time he is appointed head of the village council.
In 1925, Sergey Nikiforovich Kruglov joined the ranks of the Komsomol and at the same time was in charge of the reading room. Then he goes to the Vakhnovo state farm in the Rzhev district, where he works first as a trainee, then as a repair worker, and then as a tractor driver.
At the end of 1928, a young man is accepted into the Bolshevik Party.
Years of military service and later career
Soon Sergey Nikiforovich Kruglov is drafted into the army. But it will only last one year. While in the barracks, he mastered a new profession for himself as an auto mechanic, which came in handy after demobilization.
Having repaid his debt to the Motherland, the young man will go to the Kustanai region, where he worked as an instructor-mechanic in one of the experimental grain farms.
Studying at universities
Some time later Sergey Nikiforovichunderstands that he needs to get a higher education, and in 1931 he becomes a student at the Industrial and Pedagogical Institute. Karl Liebknecht, who is in the capital. But soon he changed the university, and not one. Taking a great interest in party work among students, in parallel he enters the Institute of Oriental Studies (Japanese sector), and after a short time becomes a student of the history department of the Institute of the Red Professorship, which opened up the prospect of becoming a teacher for Kruglov. But fate made its own adjustments, and the young man failed to graduate from this university.
Party career
In 1937, a senior student at the Institute of the Red Professorship was sent to the disposal of the party. Kruglov Sergey Nikiforovich, whose biography is of particular interest to historians, ends up in the Department of Leading Party Organs, where he acts as a responsible organizer.
Having gained experience in the work of the organs of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the young man is transferred to the NKVD, where he will serve under the command of Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria himself. What area of activity should Kruglov Sergey Nikiforovich (People's Commissar) supervise in his new department?
"Right hand" of Beria
He was supposed to keep track of cases involving “colleagues” at work who committed misconduct and offenses. Lavrenty Pavlovich was pleased with the choice of a new employee, and two months later Kruglov became Beria's direct assistant, heading the personnel department of the NKVD. Such a sharp career rise was related tocategory of extraordinary events. But in 1934, the department of Lavrenty Pavlovich was reformed: it was divided into the NKVD and the NKGB. Kruglov Sergey Nikiforovich, whose photo was already well known to the Soviet public, continued to be Beria's "right hand", who instructed him to deal with the issues of the Gulag and production and construction departments. But operational work turned out to be outside the scope of Kruglov's official activities, which saved him in 1953.
Years of the Second World War
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the two "power" departments were again merged into one. And although formally Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov is an assistant to Beria, he no longer takes part in the work of the NKVD, but goes to the front.
When the Nazis came close to Moscow, the security officer took command of the 4th Main Directorate of the NKVD defensive construction and the 4th sapper army. For the defense of the capital in 1942 he will receive the Order of the Red Star. Kruglov Sergey Nikiforovich (commissar) continued to serve in the security department and in the winter of 1943, the authorities conferred on him the high rank of commissioner of state security of the second rank. In the NKVD, he continued to be a deputy minister.
In 1944, for the mass deportations of the Ingush, Chechens, Karachays, Kalmyks to the eastern regions of the country, the Chekist was awarded the Order of Suvorov, 1st degree. Then Kruglov initiated a fight against the OUN in Ukraine, for which he received the Order of Kutuzov, 1st degree. Then Sergey Nikiforovich goes to the B altic states. In Lithuania, he carries out massive purges.
At the endwar, he provided security for foreign delegations who arrived at the Y alta Conference.
After the war
In 1945, the Chekist, being a member of the Soviet delegation, will arrive in the American San Francisco, where the UN Charter will be created. From the British, he receives the highest title of nobility - "Knight of the British Empire".
In the same 1945, the Soviet public learns that Kruglov Sergey Nikiforovich is the Minister of Internal Affairs of the USSR, he replaced Beria in this post, who had a lot of work in the Politburo.
Death of the leader
In the spring of 1953, the "leader of the peoples" Joseph Stalin dies, and, of course, this fact caused significant changes in the state administration apparatus. Once again, the departments of the NKVD and the NKGB were merged together, and Lavrenty Beria again took control of the power structure. Comrade Kruglov returned to the position of his first assistant. Soon a behind-the-scenes struggle for power broke out, and the head of the NKVD had a good chance of taking the post of head of state. But he had a serious competitor in the person of Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, who eventually became the winner in this game. The latter, having taken the highest post in the country, began an active struggle with the old cadres, who were to be replaced by his proxies. Naturally, not only Lavrenty Beria lost his privileged position, but also his deputy, Sergei Kruglov, who was transferred to work as an assistant to the head of the Ministry of Power Plant Construction. But in a new capacity, the Chekistdid not last long.
Already in 1957 he was sent to the provincial Kirov, where he was appointed assistant chairman in the regional council of the national economy. But even in this status, Kruglov remained for a short time.
Final stage of career
In 1958, due to deteriorating he alth, Sergei Nikiforovich was forced to apply for disability and retire.
In 1960, the ex-Minister of the NKVD of the USSR was expelled from the ranks of the CPSU. He was charged with participation in political repressions. But Soviet officials considered that a person not connected with the party did not deserve the right to receive a "police" pension, so they deprived him of this social payment, and also took away his office apartment. Some time later, the former security officer tried to restore his membership in the CPSU, but this issue remained in limbo.
One way or another, Kruglov did not finish his work after receiving disability. For some time he worked in the Office of Finishing Works under the Ministry of Medium (Nuclear) Engineering. In recent years, the official lived quite unpretentiously and unpretentiously.
Marital status
Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov was an exemplary family man. With his only wife, Taisiya Dmitrievna Ostapova, he legalized relations in 1934. They met when they were still students of the Industrial Pedagogical Institute, and lived in the same hostel. The story of one of the dates was the prerequisite for the marriage. It so happened thatTaisiya could not come to the meeting on time. The reason turned out to be banal. Previously, the girls in the room, including Taisiya, pooled together bought one pair of shoes for everyone, because the students at that time were in need of money. And one of her friends, who left in "public" shoes, forgot that Taisiya had to go on a date and was late for three hours. Naturally, there was a surge of emotions, and Taya thought that if the young man waited for her, then she would become his wife. And Sergey waited for her, although he was very worried that she would not come. As a result, the wedding took place.
But she was very modest, because the material condition of the newlyweds at that time left much to be desired. The first time after the marriage, they continued to live in a hostel, and separately from each other. Then they had a daughter, Irina, and a son, Valery.
Sergey Kruglov died tragically in July 1977. He was hit by a train near the Pravda platform (Yaroslavl direction of the capital railway). The statesman was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
