Semen Tsvigun
- Early Life and Education
- Career in the NKVD and MGB
- Rise to Power in the KGB
- First Deputy Chairman of the KGB USSR
- Personal Life and Death
- Legacy
Early Life and Education
Semen Kuzmich Tsvigun was born in Ukraine. In 1937, he graduated from the Odessa Pedagogical Institute with a degree in history.
Career in the NKVD and MGB
Tsvigun joined the NKVD in 1939. From 1940, he held various leadership positions within the NKVD and its successor, the MGB. During World War II, he served in the Red Army and participated in partisan operations.
Rise to Power in the KGB
In 1955, Tsvigun became first deputy chairman of the KGB in Tajikistan. He served as chairman of the KGB in Tajikistan from 1957 to 1963 and chairman of the KGB in Azerbaijan from 1963 to 1967.
First Deputy Chairman of the KGB USSR
On May 23, 1967, Tsvigun was appointed deputy chairman of the KGB USSR. In November 1967, he became first deputy chairman, overseeing the Third (military counterintelligence) and Fifth (ideological warfare) directorates of the KGB.
Personal Life and Death
Tsvigun was married to the sister of Leonid Brezhnev's wife. He was a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU from 1971. In 1978, he was promoted to General of the Army.
Tsvigun died by suicide on January 19, 1982, due to lung cancer. His death was shrouded in mystery, with rumors of assassination or involvement of rival factions within the KGB.
Legacy
Tsvigun consulted on the television series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" and the film "Taming the Fire" under the pseudonym "Colonel General S. K. Mishin." His son, Mikhail Tsvigun, served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Congo. Tsvigun received the Gold Medal "Hammer and Sickle" (Hero of Socialist Labor) and numerous other awards.
