Pyotr Masherov


Pyotr Mironovich Masherov was the first secretary of Belarusian committee of the Communist Party of Soviet Union and a communist leader of Soviet Belarus.

Overview

Masherov was born as Pyatro Mashera in a village in Vitsebsk region of Belarus and before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War in 1941 worked as a high school physics and math teacher.
Between 1942 and 1944, Masherov led an underground group of Soviet partisans in Belarus and was awarded title Hero of the Soviet Union in August 1944.
In 1965, after holding some key positions in Belarusian regions and in Minsk, Masherov became the first secretary of the Communist party in Belarus: "if a party leader was honest and incorruptible - and there were category such as Masherov, party boss in White Russia, he acquired the reputation of a saint". He was de facto the president of Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, although that title officially goes to the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus.
In 1978, Masherov was awarded Hero of Socialist Labor title for his contributions to the development of Belorussian republic.
On the delay in repayment of agriculture and industrial credits by state financial authorities gave a "highly critical speech" at the July Plenum of the Belorussian Central Committee.

Death

He died in an automobile accident when his car, escorted by police, collided with a produce truck that had unexpectedly entered the freeway. He was honored with a state funeral in Minsk, which was attended by the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania Petras Griškevičius. Later that year, Masherov Avenue was named in his honor. After his death, conspiracy theorists believed it to be an assassination conducted by the Soviet national security agency the KGB.

Honours and awards