Jurij Sołowjow

Yuri Filippovich Solovyov (; 20 August 1925 – 2 October 2011) was a Soviet politician who served as First Secretary of the Leningrad Oblast committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1989 and as a candidate (non-voting) member of the CPSU Politburo from 1986 to 1989.

Before entering party leadership, Solovyov had a career in civil engineering, spending over two decades on the construction of the Leningrad Metro, ultimately serving as head of its construction directorate. His defeat in the 1989 Soviet Union legislative election—in which he ran unopposed but was rejected by voters who crossed his name off the ballot—became one of the most emblematic moments of the election and a symbol of public disillusionment with the CPSU during perestroika. TIME described him as "the most prominent victim" of the election.

Early life and engineering career

Solovyov was born on 20 August 1925 in Samara Governorate (now Samara Oblast).

At a Politburo session on 28 March 1989 discussing the election results, Solovyov reported that all seven party leaders in Leningrad had been defeated. He attributed the outcome not to rejection of individual candidates but to broader voter dissatisfaction with the pace of perestroika.

Removal from office

In July 1989, during a visit to Leningrad by Mikhail Gorbachev, Solovyov was removed as First Secretary of the Leningrad Oblast committee. Speaking to Soviet television afterward, Gorbachev expressed dissatisfaction with the Leningrad party leadership's failure to keep pace with political change. He was replaced by Boris Gidaspov. In September 1989, at a Central Committee plenum, Solovyov was removed from his position as candidate member of the Politburo. The Washington Post reported that his dismissal "had been expected following his failure to get elected as a people's deputy."

Later life

After his removal, Solovyov retired as a "personal pensioner of all-Union significance," a designation for senior Soviet officials. He died on 2 October 2011 in Saint Petersburg.

Awards

Hero of Socialist Labour Order of Lenin (twice) Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner of Labour