<P> Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev ( 15 April ( O.S. 3 April ) 1894 -- 11 September 1971 ) was a Soviet politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 , and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers , or Premier , from 1958 to 1964 . Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union , for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program , and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy . Khrushchev 's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964 , replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier . </P>
<P> Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev ( 15 April ( O.S. 3 April ) 1894 -- 11 September 1971 ) was a Soviet politician who led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 , and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers , or Premier , from 1958 to 1964 . Khrushchev was responsible for the de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union , for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program , and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy . Khrushchev 's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964 , replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier . </P>
which soviet leader was known as a reformer
which soviet leader was known as a reformer
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev