Ligachev, Yegor Kuzmich

(1920– )

   Politician. A member of the Soviet Politburo and protégé of Mikhail Gorbachev during the late Soviet period, Yegor Ligachev broke with his former mentor over the direction of reforms within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Critical of certain aspects of glasnost and perestroika, Ligachev railed against Gorbachev for abandoning Marxism-Leninism, circumventing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and governing the country by popular mandate. In 1990, he ran against Gorbachev in the first genuine competition for leadership of the party since its creation. After losing his bid for power, he retired from public life for some time. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he returned to politics and was instrumental in founding the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) in 1993. He won election to the State Duma in the mid-1990s, holding a seat until 2003, when he lost to a candidate from the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. His memoir Inside Gorbachev’s Kremlin (1993) paints an intimate picture of power and governance in the waning days of the Soviet Union.

   See also Political parties.