Authors

Ismene Brown¹;  ¹ Independent Researcher, UK

Discussion

Khrushchev’s rout of the attempted Kremlin coup in 1957 by Stalinist rivals is historically recorded as a triumph of his charisma and Communist Party organisational skills, details of which were obliterated in the 'hero narrative' established by Anglophone historians. Re-evaluation of published records and reports, however, finds the concealment of the decisive role played by Central Committee Secretary Ekaterina Furtseva, whom Khrushchev promoted immediately afterwards to full Presidium membership. As the only woman in the leadership, Furtseva was for 20 years an exceptionally visible Soviet figure, yet, paradoxically, almost impossible to locate correctly in Western or modern Russian historiography through a systemic combination of erroneous facts and fabulations steered by patriarchal and Cold War agendas. Scrutiny of the 1957 events uncovers her bold actions and manoeuvring tactics within her male circle, heralding her career trajectory and durability, and raising important questions about evidential neglect and biases in Soviet-era narrative and discourse.