Aleksandra Biryukova

Aleksandra Pavlovna Biryukova (née Achkasova; ; 25 February 1929 – 20 February 2008) was a Soviet politician and member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). She was the highest-ranking female politician under Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev until the election of Galina Semenova in 1990.

Biryukova was the third woman ever appointed to the CPSU Politburo (27th term), the executive committee for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the fifth woman to be appointed to the CPSU Secretariat (27th term). The first woman to serve in the Politburo was Elena Stasova and the second one was Yekaterina Furtseva. Biryukova worked with the Bureau for Social Development, specifically focused on labor conditions, consumer issues, housing, and health.

Early life Biryukova was born in Voronezh Oblast, Russia on February 25, 1929. She was the middle child of five. Throughout her education, she was extremely ambitious and scored top grades. She graduated with distinction from the Moscow State Textile Institute in 1952. She began as a specialist and rose to the position of deputy supervisor and later shop supervisor. Administrators for Nikita Khrushchev (Chairman of the Council of Ministers) took attention to her in 1959, and she was appointed to one of Moscow's administrative committees on the economy, and put in charge of Moscow's textile and knitwear industries. She became successful within this movement and created a strong rapport with the workers by campaigning for improved safety and working conditions.

When Mikhail Gorbachev came into power in 1985, Biryukova entered the highest level of soviet politics by becoming Deputy Chair of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions.

The 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Aleksandra Biryukova attended the congress held on July 5, 1990. At the conference, Biryukova called the Soviet consumer market “a crisis situation” and described the status of health services as “criminal”. At this time, the Communist Party was experiencing an unfavourable period. At the Congress, Biryukova was criticized by many attendees, some of whom also called her to resign. In response to these criticisms, Gorbachev told the group that she would receive a pension and be relieved of all her duties. As a result, Biryukova resigned from all her positions in September 1990, at the age of 61. She viewed the lack of representation of women in high-ranking roles as a result of their natural inclination to be a mother.

Personal life Biryukova's father and one brother died in World War II. She married Alexander Nikitovich Biryukov (Russian: Александр Никитович Бирюков; 8 September 1925 - 17 September 2006) a staff military officer who retired in 1980. The book discusses women and their contribution to the creation of the Soviet socialist state. In her free time, Biryukova enjoyed skiing, swimming, and opera.