Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Intelligence

Appendix B

KGB Chairs, 1917–1991

307

Feliks Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky 1917–1926

Vyacheslav Rudolovich Menzhinsky 1926–1934

Genrykh Grigoreyevich Yagoda 1934–1936

Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov 1936–1938

Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria 1938–1941

Vsevold Nikolaevich Merkulov 1941 (February–July)

Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria 1941–1943

Vsevold Nikolaevich Merkulov 1943–1946

Viktor Semenovich Abakumov 1946–1951

Semyon Denisovich Ignatev 1951–1953

Lavrenty Pavlovich Beria 1953 (March–June)

Sergei Nikiforovich Kruglov 1953–1954

Ivan Aleksandrovich Serov 1954–1958

Aleksandr Nikolaevich Shelepin 1958–1961

Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastniy 1961–1967

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov 1967–1982

Vitalii Vasilevich Fedorchuk 1982 (May–December)

Viktor Mikhailovich Chebrikov 1982–1988

Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov 1988–1991

Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin 1991 (August–December)

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