Nicolae Coval

Nicolae Coval (19 December 1904 – 15 January 1970) was a Soviet and Moldavian politician.

Nicolae Coval
Николай Коваль
First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party
In office 5 January 1946 – July 1950
Premier	Gherasim Rudi
Preceded by	Nikita Salogor
Succeeded by	Leonid Brezhnev
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Moldavian SSR
In office 17 April 1945 – 4 January 1946
Preceded by	Tihon Konstantinov
Succeeded by	Gherasim Rudi
Personal details
Born	(1904-12-19)19 December 1904 Camenca, Olgopolsky Uyezd, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	15 January 1970(1970-01-15) (aged 65) Chişinău, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union
Political party	Communist Party of Moldova

Biography

Nicolae Coval was born on 19 December 1904 in the city of Camenca, Russian Empire (now in Transnistria, Republic of Moldova). Nicolae Coval became a member of the CPSU in 1939; in the period 1940–1945, he served as the People's Commissar for Agriculture of the MSSR. At Congresses I - IV, X - XII of the Communist Party of the MSSR was elected as a member of the Central Committee. He also served as deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (in Legislative 1, 2, 6 and 7) and deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (in the 1-3 legislatures).

Coval was the prime minister of Moldavian SSR (17 April 1945 – 5 January 1946). Coval was also the First Secretary of the Moldavian Communist Party (5 January 1946 - July 1950).

During his rule, the hunger of 1946-1947 occurred in the Moldаvian SSR, when more than 170 thousand people died. The hunger had partially objective reasons (relatively low harvest), while partially was organized by Soviet Authorities (Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party), which urged the completion of Soviet grain stocks. The hunger was stopped in the autumn of 1947, after which a forced collectivisation of agriculture in Bessarabia was ordered by Soviet authorities.

Bibliography

• *** - Enciclopedia sovietică moldovenească (Chişinău, 1970–1977)