Leonid Brezhnev: funeral, date, photo

In 1982, Leonid Brezhnev died at his dacha Zarechie-6. The funeral was the most pompous in the history of the USSR, the representatives of 35 countries of the world came to say goodbye to the head of the socialist republic.

Short biography of Brezhnev

Leonid Ilich was born in Ukraine in Kamenskoye on December 19 in 1906. For 18 years he headed the highest posts in the USSR. The future secretary-general was the eldest son in the family of workers, after him were born Jacob and Vera. In 1915 he entered the gymnasium, which he graduated in 1921. In 1923 he was received into the Komsomol. In 1927 he graduated from the land surveying technical school, after studying worked as a land surveyor first in his homeland, then he was transferred to the Urals.

In 1935 he graduated from the evening department of the DMI (Metallurgical Institute) with an engineer's diploma. Year he served in the Red Army as a political instructor until 1936, he also completed motorization courses, and after graduation received the rank of lieutenant. In 1950 he worked as first secretary of the Central Committee of Moldova, from 1954 he was transferred to Kazakhstan. In 1964 he participated in the group of NS Khrushchev's dismissal from his post, and even offered physical measures of elimination.

In the same 1964 October 14, Brezhnev was elected first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. According to Biryukov, the appointment was intended as a temporary measure, until the choice of a permanent secretary general. But Leonid Ilyich launched an extensive program for the return of the Leninist principles, and within a few months no one thought about the dismissal of the head of state.

Nervous work

Stalin singled out his companion from the numerous guards for phenomenal efficiency, but constantly controlled Brezhnev's activities. The period when Leonid Ilyich held the post of head of the metallurgical plant was filled with night calls, regular stresses and overwork. According to his wife, Viktoria Petrovna, not to fall out of the "clip", her husband worked a whole day. Constant nervous tension, which did not allow you to relax even for a day, a huge number of smoked cigarettes undermined Brezhnev's health. Mikhail Zhikharev, who worked with him in Kazakhstan, recalls that Leonid Ilyich fainted from fatigue, he was taken to the hospital, but within a few hours he was again at the workplace.

Along with constant fatigue, Brezhnev's health was undermined by fear. The unpredictable character of Stalin, the intrigues of his comrades-in-arms, and the constant attention of the people to his activities at some point broke this energetic man. Still, Stalin favored the active ally, he said: the most devoted person is Brezhnev. The funeral of Stalin, his idol and mentor, Leonid Ilyich suffered as a sudden blow from behind. At the funeral, he cried, not hiding his emotions.

According to personal memories from the diary, the first stroke occurred in 1959 after an acute conversation with AI Kirichenko. The whole situation was complicated by the fact that Brezhnev himself did not like hospitals and doctors. He was considered a difficult patient, which is difficult to keep in bed. In 1968, the general secretary transfers the hypertensive crisis right in the Kremlin, refuses hospitalization and tries to work further. As a result, the problems of the speech apparatus began. In 1974, historians observed the decline of an independent policy of Brezhnev.

The Night of Death

On the morning of November 10, Viktoria Petrovna, Brezhnev's wife, got up at 8 so that the nurse gave her an injection of insulin. Leonid Ilyich lay on his side, and she did not wake him. Vladimir Sobachenkov, the personal security guard of the secretary general, went to him in about 20 minutes, opened the bedroom curtains, turned on the small light. Upon closer examination, the young man realized that the general secretary was not breathing, and immediately called the resuscitation. Doctor Chazov E.I. I drove 12 minutes before the ambulance on my private car. The doctor personally reported the death of her husband Victoria Brezhneva and asked the guard to inform the higher authorities about the tragic event.

Pribytkov V. (member of the CPSU Central Committee) comments:

"I was struck by the fact that on the night of death in the country house there was no medical post."

Medvedev V. (personal protection) recalls:

"We knew that the account goes for days. Everyone wanted the event to happen not in his shift. "

The date of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev's funeral was appointed by a special decree on November 15.

11 November 1982

On this day the country still did not know about the death of the secretary general. The official notification came only on November 12, but everyone felt that something had happened. At 12 o'clock in the afternoon all classes in schools are urgently canceled, the stations and Red Square overlap. On television, the change of programs, instead of entertaining films and a planned concert, is a historical drama and ballet.

A commission is urgently created for the "Kremlin funeral". Brezhnev was transported to a city morgue, where he was dressed and make-up. Responsible for the event appointed Yu Andropov, as the future successor to the Secretary General.

The People's Tragedy

On November 12, at 10 am on television, the news of the death of Leonid Ilyich was announced. Mourning was declared in the camp, all measures were canceled. The era of Brezhnev ended. The people of Russia, despite seditious anecdotes about breast enlargement for orders and languid diction, loved the general secretary. It was with him that journalism and the printing business began to flourish, after Stalin's strict censorship. Although the households did not know the price of the products, Leonid Brezhnev asked for statistics every week and knew perfectly well how much a kilogram of tomatoes cost. His most zealous desire was to prove to the whole world that even under socialism people can live in prosperity.

But, remembering the terrible crush at the burial of Stalin, in which many people died, the government closed all roads to Moscow. Only the elected citizens and representatives of foreign countries could remember the memory. Brezhnev, whose funeral struck the imagination with its scale, importance and scope of the mourning ceremony, went to his last path to the sorrowful thoughts about the coming changes in the country.

Funeral process (stage 1)

From November 12 to 15 inclusive, the country declared mourning. It is forbidden to hold any events, schools, kindergartens, most businesses and factories are closed. On television and radio, all programs have been canceled, on the air classical ballet.

The chronicle of Brezhnev's funeral begins with a farewell in the House of Unions. Anyone could come to the Hall of Columns to express the last respect to the Secretary General of a huge country. The delegation of India, led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organizations, Yasser Arafat, paid tribute to memory.

On November 15, from 5.00 am to 11.00 am - the watch of honor of the members of the Politburo, outstanding figures of art and culture, representatives and ministers of economic branches. Metropolitans Pimen and Filaret came to pay homage. The coffin was decorated with ribbons of mourning value of 40 centimeters and thousands of wreaths.

From 11.00 hours to 11.20 next to the deceased remained only relatives, wife Victoria Petrovna, daughter Galina, son Yuri, brother Yakov and sister Vera.

At 11.30 am, to the sounds of a funeral march, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and slowly carried out from the hall to Red Square. The first in the farewell cortege were members of the family, companions-in-arms of the secretary general, members of the Politburo, state and party leaders. Before the deceased carried wreaths and ribbons, as well as numerous awards.

At 12.45 the coffin was lowered into the grave. The national anthem sounds, after it salute from artillery guns, factories, cars, the sirens on the railway and the pier turn on - a symbol of that Brezhnev has died. The funeral is moving to the second stage.

Funeral process (stage 2)

At 13.00 the party leaders and leaders rise to the Mausoleum. The parade of troops of the Moscow garrison begins.

The meeting of mourning was opened by Andropov, followed by other members of the general secretary with farewell speeches. After the representatives of foreign countries approached the grave to pay tribute to the great man.

The whole country watched live as Leonid Brezhnev set out on his last journey. The funeral was broadcast on the first Ostankino television channel and on the radio.

Myth and the real curiosities

The first patch in the ceremony was the situation with the orders. By tradition, each order and medal should be placed on a separate pillow. But there were many awards, so they decided to take out several orders, than cut Brezhnev's funeral. Leonid Ilyich, in spite of ridicule, not only liked to receive orders, but also with the same pleasure awarded them others.

The second myth about the fallen coffin is refuted by everyone present at the ceremony. According to them, the blow, which on television sounds like the sound of a fallen object, is a gun volley that accompanied Brezhnev's burial and funeral. "They dropped the coffin" is an incredible legend.