Kalchenko, Nykyfor

Kalchenko, Nykyfor [Кальченко, Никифор; Kal'čenko], b 9 February 1906 in Koshmanivka, Poltava gubernia, d 14 May 1989 in Kyiv. Soviet state and Communist Party official. In the 1930s Kalchenko participated in the collectivization drive in Kharkiv oblast. He was a candidate (1938–40) and a full (1940–76) member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU), and a candidate (1952–6, 1966–76) and a full (1956–66) member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1952 to 1976 he was a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Ukraine. He was in charge of various Ukrainian government ministries: economic crops (1946–7), state farms (1947–50), agriculture (1950–2), and agricultural procurement (1961–5). He also served as deputy chairman (1952–4, 1961–76) and chairman (1954–61) of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]