View source for Boris Pugo

{{Short description|Soviet Latvian politician (1937–1991)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{expand Russian|date=August 2022|topic=bio}}
{{Infobox Officeholder
| name                = Boris Pugo
| image               = Boris Pugo.jpg
| citizenship         = [[Soviet people|Soviet Union]]
| office              = [[Ministry of Interior (Soviet Union)|Minister of Interior of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start          = 1 December 1990
| term_end            = 22 August 1991
| premier             = [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]]<br/>[[Valentin Pavlov]]
| predecessor         = [[Vadim Bakatin]]
| successor           = [[Viktor Barannikov]]
| order1              = Chairman of the [[Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Control Commission]]
| term_start1         = 30 September 1989
| term_end1           = April 1991
| predecessor1        = [[Mikhail Solomentsev]]
| successor1          = Eugene Makhov
| office2             = [[Secretary (title)|First Secretary]] of the [[Communist Party of Latvia]]
| term_start2         = 14 April 1984
| term_end2           = 4 October 1989
| predecessor2        = [[Augusts Voss]]
| successor2          = [[Jānis Vagris]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1937|02|19|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Tver|Kalinin]], [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1991|8|22|1937|02|19|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Moscow]], Russian SFSR Soviet Union
| death_cause         = [[Suicide]] by gunshot
| party               = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist]] (1960–1991)
| spouse              = 
| profession          = 
| resting_place       = [[Troyekurovskoye Cemetery]]
| residence           = 
| signature           = 
| native_name_lang    = ru
| native_name         = {{nobold|Борис Пуго}}
| caption             = Pugo in 1989
| otherparty          = [[Communist Party of Latvia]]
}}
'''Boris Karlovich Pugo''' ({{langx|lv|Boriss Pugo}}, {{langx|ru|Борис  Карлович Пуго}}; 19 February 1937 – 22 August 1991) was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Communism|communist]] politician of [[Latvians|Latvian]] origin.

==Early life and education==
Pugo was born in Kalinin, [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] (now [[Tver]], [[Russia]]) into a family of Latvian communists. They had left Latvia after Latvia was proclaimed an independent country in 1918, and the Communist side was defeated in the [[Latvian War of Independence|war that followed]]. His father, Karl Janovich Pugo, was a participant in the October Revolution and the Civil War as a member of the [[Latvian Riflemen]]. His family returned to Latvia after the Soviet Union occupied and annexed it in 1940.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hrono.ru/biograf/bio_p/pugo_bk.php |title=Пуго Борис Карлович |trans-title=Pugo Boris Karlovich |language=ru |work=XPOHOC |access-date=14 December 2020}}</ref>

Pugo graduated from [[Riga Technical University|Riga Polytechnical Institute]] in 1960 and worked in various [[Komsomol]], [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] and Soviet government positions, both in Latvia and [[Moscow]].

== Party career ==
Pugo served in various positions between 1960 and 1984 including the [[General Secretary|first secretary]] of the [[Central committee|Central Committee]] of the Komsomol of the [[Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|Latvian SSR]], a secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol of the USSR, the First Secretary of the Riga City Committee of the Communist Party and chairman of the [[Committee for State Security of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic|KGB in Latvia]].

Pugo was the first secretary of the [[Communist Party of Latvia]] from 14 April 1984 to 4 October 1989. Pugo also served as chairman of the [[Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1989 to 1991.

Between 1990 and 1991, Pugo was the [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Soviet Union)|Minister of Interior Affairs of the USSR]].

== August coup and death ==
Pugo participated in the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|August coup]] in 1991 and as the Minister of the Interior firmly supported measures to suppress opposition to the coup. After the coup had failed, Pugo died by [[suicide]], anticipating arrest.<ref name="coupphone">{{cite news|title=After The Coup; Phone Call, Then a Suicide|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/24/world/after-the-coup-phone-call-then-a-suicide.html|access-date=21 December 2017|work=The New York Times|date=24 August 1991}}</ref> He was contacted by the RSFSR prosecution for a meeting and he shot himself minutes after the phone call.<ref name="coupphone"/> His wife Valentina Ivanovna also died by suicide,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Synovitz|first=Ron|date=19 August 2016|title=What Happened To The August 1991 Soviet Coup Plotters?|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/what-happened-to-the-august-1991-coup-plotters/27933729.html|access-date=27 March 2018|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|language=en}}</ref> although sources from the time were uncertain as to whether she killed herself or was killed by her husband.<ref name="coupphone"/><ref>{{cite news|title=The Kremlin Plot|url=http://www.newsweek.com/kremlin-plot-197950|access-date=21 December 2017|work=Newsweek|date=30 August 1992|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Wife of Coup Plotter Pugo Dies After Suicide Attempt|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-09-05-mn-2437-story.html|access-date=21 December 2017|work=Los Angeles Times|date=5 September 1991}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Nadler|first=Gerald|title=Conspirator calmly took call from pursuer, then shot wife, self|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/08/23/Conspirator-calmly-took-call-from-pursuer-then-shot-wife-self/7549682920000/|access-date=26 March 2018|work=United Press International|date=23 August 1991}}</ref>

== Awards ==

* [[Order of Lenin]] (February 18, 1987)
* [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour|Order of the Red Banner of Labor]] (March 3, 1976)
* [[Order of the Red Star]] (October 8, 1980)
* [[Order of the Badge of Honour|Order of the Badge of Honor]] (August 26, 1971)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[http://hrono.ru/biograf/bio_p/pugo_bk.php Pugo Boris Karlovich biography] in Russian
*{{cite web|url=http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/08/17/019.html|title=The Men Who Tried to Topple Mikhail Gorbachev|access-date=2004-07-20|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010905011525/http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/08/17/019.html|archive-date=2001-09-05}} 
*{{Find a Grave|7323341}}

{{27th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union}}
{{Latvian SSR First Secretaries}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pugo, Boris Karlovich}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:1991 suicides]]
[[Category:1991 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tver]]
[[Category:Riga Technical University alumni]]
[[Category:Heads of the Communist Party of Latvia]]
[[Category:People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Ministers of internal affairs of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:State Committee on the State of Emergency members]]
[[Category:Candidates of the Politburo of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Candidates of the Politburo of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Candidates of the Politburo of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities]]
[[Category:Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1967–1971]]
[[Category:Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1971–1975]]
[[Category:Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1975–1980]]
[[Category:Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1980–1985]]
[[Category:Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1985–1990]]
[[Category:Expelled members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Star]]
[[Category:Latvian communists]]
[[Category:Russian people of Latvian descent]]
[[Category:Soviet colonel generals]]
[[Category:Soviet politicians who died by suicide]]
[[Category:Suicides by firearm in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Burials in Troyekurovskoye Cemetery]]