Vasily Kozlov (politician)

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Vasily Kozlov

| native_name = {{nobold|Васіль Казлоў}}

| native_name_lang = be

| image = Vasily Ivanovich Kazlov.jpg

| caption = Kozlov, {{circa|1940s}}

| office = Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR

| 1blankname = First Secretary

| 1namedata = Nikolai Gusarov

| term_start = 12 March 1947

| term_end = 17 March 1948

| predecessor = Nadezhda Grekova

| successor = Yevgeny Bugayev

| office2 = Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus

| term_start2 = 18 March 1948

| term_end2 = 2 December 1967

| predecessor2 = Nikifor Natalevich

| successor2 = Sergei Prizky

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1903|2|18|df=y}}

| birth_place = Zagorodnie, Russian Empire
(now Zhlobin District, Belarus)

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1967|12|2|1903|2|18|df=y}}

| death_place = Minsk, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
(now Belarus)

| residence =

| party = Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1927–1967)

| allegiance = {{flag|Soviet Union}}

| branch = {{plainlist|

}}

| serviceyears = 1925–1927, 1941–1944

| rank = Major general

| commands = Minsk partisans

| battles = World War II

| awards = Hero of the Soviet Union

| spouse =

| children =

| profession =

| religion =

| signature =

}}

Vasil Ivanovich Kozlov ({{langx|be|Васіль Іванавіч Казлоў|translit=Vasil Ivanavič Kazloŭ}}; {{langx|ru|Василий Иванович Козлов}}; 18 February 1903 – 2 December 1967) was a Soviet Belarusian partisan, politician, and recipient of the Hero of the Soviet Union (1942).

Early life

Kozlov was born into a peasant family in the small village of Zagorodnie. In 1919, he began working as mechanic in the nearby town of Zhlobin. He was conscripted for a two-year mandatory service in the Red Army in 1925, and joined the All-Union Communist Party in 1927.[http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/bse/96613/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%B7%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%B2 Vasily Kozlov on academic.ru.] Kozlov attended the Minsk University between 1929 and 1933. After graduation, he served as a Kolkhoz party organizer for a year. During 1934, Kozlov was appointed director of the Starobin Machine and Tractor Station, located in the Salihorsk Raion. In 1937, he was posted as the First Secretary of the Communist Party's regional branch in Starobin. A year afterwards, he became the Party's First Secretary in the Chervyen Raion.[http://www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_k/kozlov_vi.php Vasily Kozlov on hrono.ru.] In 1940, he was promoted to the deputy chairman of the Byelorussian SSR's Council of People's Commissars. In April 1941, Kozlov was given the office of the Second Secretary in the Minsk Region's Communist Party branch.[http://www.az-libr.ru/index.shtml?Persons&AE7/8208f446/index Vasily Kozlov on az-libr.ru.]

World War II

Minsk was occupied by the invading Germans on 26 June 1941. Kozlov remained behind the enemy's lines and was appointed chief of the Voblast's underground Communist Party in July. He was tasked with organizing resistance activities, and led the Minsk partisans until the end of the German occupation.[http://sensusware.ru/kozlov_vasilii_ivanovith.html Vasily Kozlov on 1941-1945.ru.][http://dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/13762004 Vasily Kozlov's obituary] in Pravda. By mid-1942, he commanded a force that consisted of some 50,000 members. In September, he traveled to Moscow to report on the situation in Belarus. There, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 1 September 1942.[http://sun.tsu.ru/mminfo/2020/000462771/1942/1942_037.pdf Указ Президиума Верховного Совета СССР «О присвоении звания Героя Советского Союза партизанам, особо отличившимся в партизанской борьбе в тылу против немецких захватчиков» от 1 сентября 1942 года] // Ведомости Верховного Совета Союза Советских Социалистических Республик : газета. — 1942. — 10 сентября (№ 37 (196)). — С. 1. As commander of one of the occupied republic's largest partisan detachments, he was given the rank of a Major General on 16 September 1943.{{Cite web |url=http://www.narb.by/rus/about/structure/text3/kozlov |title=Vasily Kozlov's biography on narb.by. |access-date=2011-07-01 |archive-date=2020-02-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221010229/http://www.narb.by/rus/about/structure/text3/kozlov |url-status=dead }} In July 1944, the Red Army liberated Minsk. Kozlov remained the chairman of the Minsk Voblast's Communist Party regional committee, an office he held for four further years.{{Cite web |url=http://www.soligorsk-city.com/165/people/kozlov.html |title=Vasily Kozlov on soligorsk.com |access-date=2011-07-01 |archive-date=2016-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305083122/http://www.soligorsk-city.com/165/people/kozlov.html |url-status=dead }}

Post-war

On 12 March 1947, Kozlov was elected as the Chairman of Belarus' Supreme Soviet, functioning as such until 17 March 1948. Then, he became the Chief of the Supreme Belorussian Soviet's Presidium.[http://will-remember.ru/familii_na_k/kozlov_vasilii_ivanovich.htm Vasily Kozlov's biography on j-r.ru.] He continued to serve in this post until his death.[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article062532.html Vasily Kozlov on the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.] In addition, he was a candidate member of the Communist Party of the USSR's Central Committee during its 20th, 21st and 22nd convocations, from 25 February 1956 to 29 March 1966. On 8 April 1966, shortly before his death, he was accepted as a full member.[http://www.knowbysight.info/KKK/03282.asp A summary of Kozlov's career.] Kozlov is buried in Minsk's Eastern Cemetery.[http://nashkraj.info/content/view/490/49/ Vasily Kozlov's biography on the Gomel heritage center.]