Kalinin, Mikhail Ivanovich

Related Category: Russian, Soviet, and CIS History: Biographies

(mēkhəyēl´ ēvä´nəvĭch kəlyē´nyĭn), 1875–1946, Russian revolutionary. Of peasant origin, he was active in revolutionary affairs from his youth. He became the first chairman of the central executive committee of the USSR, or titular head of state (1919–46), and was a member (1925–46) of the politburo.