Head of MGB
In 1946, Stalin appointed Abakumov Minister for State Security (MGB). Although the ministry was under the general supervision of Beria, Stalin hoped to curb the latter's power. In this capacity he was in charge of the 1949 purge known as the "Leningrad Affair," in which the Politburo members Nikolai Voznesensky and Aleksei Kuznetsov were executed.
Read more about this topic: Viktor Abakumov
Famous quotes containing the word head:
“My father upon the Abbey stage, before him a raging crowd.
“This Land of Saints,” and then as the applause died out,
“Of plaster Saints;” his beautiful mischievous head thrown back.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)