Mykhailo Hrechukha
Mykhailo Serhiyovych Hrechukha was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the Chairman of Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1939 to 1954. He was elected to the 1st through 5th convocations of Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR.
Biography
Mykhailo Hrechukha was born on 19 September 1902 in the village of Moshny within the Ukrainian SSR, that today is located in Cherkasy Raion, central Ukraine. He was born into a family of poor peasants. In 1922, he joined the Komsomol, becoming Secretary of the Komsomol for the village of Moshny. He then became the Chairman of the Moshny District Council of Trade Unions of the Cherkasy District and also District Head of the Department of Public Education, Secretary, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the District Council. In 1926, he became a full member of the CPSU. Afterwards, he was first appointed instructor then Head of the Organizational and Instructor Department of the Shevchenkivskyi District within Kyiv. In 1936, he graduated from the Kharkiv Automobile and Highway Institute.Afterwards, he worked as a mechanical engineer for Southern Railways. In 1938, he was appointed the 1st Secretary of the Zhytomyr Regional Committee of CPU, after having previously being its 2nd Secretary in early 1938. He was also briefly Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Kharkiv Regional Council. From 1939 to 1954 he was then Chairman of Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. During his tenure, World War II occurred, during which he took part in the reconstruction of the Ukrainian SSR, and he helped establish contact with other republics of the USSR.
In 1954 he became 1st Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR, and then in 1959 he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR. Finally, from 1962 to 1966, he was Advisor to the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR before he formally retired from politics in 1966.