Laventi Pavlovich Beria
Laventi Pavlovich Beria (1899-1953), Soviet politician, head of the secret police (1938-53). Born in Georgia, the son of peasants, Beria joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917 and participated in the October Revolution. After ten years as director of the secret police in Georgia (1921-31), he rose to national prominence as a trusted associate of Stalin. As head of the notorious NKVD, he became one of the most powerful and feared men in the country. He was actively involved in the purging of Stalin’s opponents and organized the deportation of many thousands to labour camps. On Stalin’s death in 1953, leading figures in the party arranged for Beria’s immediate arrest, believing that their own lives might otherwise be in danger. According to some rumours, he had even had Stalin poisoned. In December 1953 official sources stated that Beria had been shot as a traitor. Further details of his cruelty and corruption emerged in the glasnost era.
