biography
| name: |
Beria, Lavrenti Pavlovich
|
pronunciation:
[beria]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1899–1953)
|
| biography:
| Soviet secret police chief, born in Mercheuli, NW Georgia. He served as a member of the OGPU (the forerunner of the KGB) in the Caucasus (1921–31), before becoming first secretary of the Georgian Communist Party. He was appointed minister for internal affairs (1938) by his patron, Stalin, and served as vice-president of the State Committee for Defence during World War 2, being accorded the title of marshal in 1945. On Stalin's death in March 1953, he attempted to seize power, but was foiled by fearful military and party leaders. Following his arrest he was tried for treason, and was executed in December 1953. He was a plotter of ruthless ambition, and a notoriously skilled organizer of forced labour, terror, and espionage. |
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