Gennady Yanayev | |
|---|---|
Геннадий Янаев | |
.jpg) Yanayev in 1993 | |
| President of the Soviet Union (disputed) | |
| In office 19–21 August 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Mikhail Gorbachev |
| Succeeded by | Mikhail Gorbachev |
| Vice President of the Soviet Union | |
| In office 27 December 1990 – 21 August 1991[1] | |
| President | Mikhail Gorbachev |
| Preceded by | Anatoly Lukyanov (as vice head of state) |
| Succeeded by | None (post abolished) |
| Chairman of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions | |
| In office April – July 1990 | |
| Preceded by | Stepan Shalaev |
| Succeeded by | None (post abolished) |
| Full member of the 28th Politburo | |
| In office 14 July 1990 – 31 January 1991 | |
| Secretary of the 28th Central Committee | |
| In office 14 July 1990 – 31 January 1991 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 26 August 1937 Perevoz, Gorky Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Died | 24 September 2010 (aged 73) Moscow, Russia |
| Cause of death | Lung cancer |
| Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1962–1991) |
Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev (Russian: Геннадий Иванович Янаев; 26 August 1937 – 24 September 2010) was a Soviet politician and disputed President of the Soviet Union for three days. Yanayev's political career spanned the rules of Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko, and culminated during the Gorbachev years. Yanayev was born in Perevoz, Gorky Oblast. After years in local politics, he rose to prominence as Chairman of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, but he also held other lesser posts such as deputy of the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.
Due to his chairmanship of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, in 1990 he gained a seat in the 28th Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee. Later that year, on 27 December, with the help of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yanayev was elected the first, and only, Vice President of the Soviet Union. Having growing doubts about where Gorbachev's reforms were leading, Yanayev started working with, and eventually formally leading, the Gang of Eight, the group which deposed Gorbachev during the August 1991 coup d'état attempt. After three days, the coup collapsed, in part due to Western backing of Boris Yeltsin; during its brief grip of power, Yanayev was made Acting President of the Soviet Union. He was then arrested for his role in the coup, but in 1994 he was pardoned. He spent the rest of his life working in the Russian tourism administration until his death on 24 September 2010.