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{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Andrei Gromyko<br>{{nobold|Андрей Громыко}}
| office = [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]]
| image = Andrei Gromyko 1972.jpg
| caption = Gromyko in 1972
| deputy = [[Vasili Kuznetsov (politician)|VasiliVasily Kuznetsov]]<br>[[Pyotr Demichev]]
| predecessor = [[Konstantin Chernenko]]<br>[[Vasili Kuznetsov (politician)|Vasily Kuznetsov]] (acting)
| successor = [[Mikhail Gorbachev]]
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| nationality = [[Soviet people|Soviet]]
| spouse = {{marriage|[[Lydia Gromyko|Lydia Grinevich]]|1931}}<ref name="wife">{{cite web|script-title=ru:Соседи по парте|language=ru|publisher=RPP|url=http://rpp.nm.ru/zemliaki/so_a-d.html|access-date=11 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100310060301/http://www.rpp.nm.ru/zemliaki/so_a-d.html|archive-date=10 March 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| children = 2, including [[Anatoly Gromyko|Anatoly]] and Emiliya
| profession = [[Economist]], [[diplomat]], [[civil servant]]
| allegiance =
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| predecessor5 = Post created
| successor5 = [[Yakov Malik]]
| native_name = {{nobold|Андрей Громыко}}
| native_name_lang = ru
}}
 
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===Ambassador and World War II===
[[File:L to R, Gen. Harry Vaughan, Soviet leader Josef Stalin, Charles Bohlen, interpreter for President Truman, V. N.... - NARA - 198809.jpg|thumb|Gromyko standing between [[Harry S. Truman|Harry Truman]] and [[James F. Byrnes|James Byrnes]] at the [[Potsdam Conference]] in July 1945]]
In early 1939, Gromyko started working for the [[People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs]] in Moscow. GromykoHe became the Head of the Department of Americas, and because of his position Gromyko met with United States ambassador to the Soviet Union [[Lawrence Steinhardt]]. Gromyko believed Steinhardt to be "totally uninterested in creating good relations between the US and the USSR"{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=35}} and that Steinhardt's predecessor [[Joseph E. Davies|Joseph Davies]] was more "colourful" and seemed "genuinely interested" in improving the relations between the two countries.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|pp=36–7}} Davies received the [[Order of Lenin]] for his work in trying to improve diplomatic relations between the US and the USSR. After heading the Americas department for 6 months, Gromyko was called upon by [[Joseph Stalin]]. Stalin started the conversation by telling Gromyko that he would be sent to the Soviet embassy in the United States to become [[second-in-command]]. "The Soviet Union," Stalin said, "should maintain reasonable relations with such a powerful country like the United States, especially in light of the growing [[fascist]] threat". [[Vyacheslav Molotov]] contributed with some minor modifications but mostly agreed with what Stalin had said.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=39}} "How are your English skills improving?," Stalin asked,; "Comrade Gromyko, you should pay a visit or two to an American church and listen to their sermons. Priests usually speak correct English with good accents. Do you know that the Russian revolutionaries, when they were abroad, always followed this practice to improve their skills in foreign languages?" Gromyko was quite amazed about what Stalin had just told him but he never visited an American church.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=40}}
 
Gromyko had never been abroad before and, to get to the United States, he had to travel via [[airplane]] through [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]], [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] and [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] to [[Genoa]], [[Italian Empire|Italy]], where he boarded a ship to the United States.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=41}} He later wrote in his ''Memoirs'' that [[New York City]] was a good example on how humans, by the "means of wealth and technology are able to create something that is totally alien to our nature". He further noticed the New York working districts which, in his own opinion, were proof of the inhumanity of [[capitalism]] and of the system's greed.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=42}} Gromyko met and consulted with most of the senior officers of the [[United States government]] during his first days{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=43}} and succeeded [[Maxim Litvinov]] as ambassador to the United States in 1943. In his ''Memoirs'' Gromyko wrote fondly of President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|pp=48–9}} even though he believed him to be a representative of the [[bourgeoisie class]].{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=50}} During his time as ambassador, Gromyko met prominent personalities such as British actor [[Charlie Chaplin]],{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=73}} and British economist [[John Maynard Keynes]].{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=82}}
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===United Nations===
Gromyko was appointed [[Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union to the United Nations]] (UN) in April 1946.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=144}} The USSR supported the election of the first [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]], [[Trygve Lie]], a former Norwegian [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Norway)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]. However, in the opinion of Gromyko, Lie became an active supporter of the "expansionist behaviour" of the United States and its "American aggressionist" policy. Because of this political stance, Gromyko believed Lie to be a poor Secretary-General.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=141}} Trygve's successor, Swede [[Dag Hammarskjöld]] also promoted what Gromyko sawclaimed as "[[anti-Soviet]] policies".{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=142}} [[U Thant]], the third Secretary-General, once told Gromyko that it was "close to impossible" to have an "objective opinion of the USSR" in the [[Secretariat of the United Nations]] because the majority of secretariatSecretariat members were of American ethnicitynationality, or "supporters of the United States".{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=143}}
 
Gromyko often used the Soviet [[List of vetoed United Nations Security Council resolutions|veto power]] in the early days of the United Nations. So familiar was a Soviet veto in the early days of the UN that Gromyko became known as ''Mr Nyet'', literally meaning "Mr No". During the first 10 years of the UN, the Soviet Union used its veto 79 times. In the same period, the [[Republic of China]] used the veto once, France twice and the others not at all.<ref>{{cite news |author=Karfala, Tarik |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2828985.stm|title=The veto and how to use it |date=17 September 2003 |publisher=[[BBC]] | access-date = 18 November 2010 }}</ref> On 14 May 1947, Gromyko advocated the [[one-state solution]] to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], and the [[two-state solution]] as the second best option in the case that "relations between the Jewish and Arab populations of Palestine&nbsp;... proved to be so bad that it would be impossible to reconcile them".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://unispal.un.org/DPA/DPR/unispal.nsf/0/D41260F1132AD6BE052566190059E5F0|title=Discussion of the report of the First Committee on the establishment of a special committee on Palestine |publisher=United Nations General Assembly |date=14 May 1947 |access-date=28 August 2017|id=A/2/PV.77}}</ref>
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[[File:Batsanov, Thompson, Gromyko and Rusk.jpg|thumb|Batsanov, [[Llewellyn Thompson]], Gromyko, and [[Dean Rusk]] in 1967 during the [[Glassboro Summit]]]]
Years later during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]], Gromyko met U.S. President [[John F. Kennedy]] while acting under instructions from the current Soviet leader, [[Nikita Khrushchev]]. In his ''Memoirs'', Gromyko wrote that Kennedy seemed "out of touch" when he first met him, and was more "ideologically driven" than "practical". In a 1988 interview, he further described Kennedy as nervous and prone to making contradictory statements involving American intentions towards Cuba.
 
Gromyko, in addition to John F. Kennedy, held important political discussions with [[Dean Rusk]], a former United States Secretary of State, in regards to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He defended his nationstate's actions, stating that the Soviet Union had every right to be present in Cuba, especially considering the fact that the United States had established [[PGM-19 Jupiter|their own missiles in Turkey]]. To Gromyko it seemed ironical,ironic the Soviet Union was blamed for their presence in Cuba, yet America had established countless of [[List of United States military bases|foreign military bases]] worldwide. After several negotiations, Gromyko mentioned: "By Rusk's behavior it was possible to observe how painfully the American leaders are suffering the fact that the Soviet Union decisively has stood on the side of Cuba",<ref>{{Cite web|title=Wilson Center Digital Archive|url=https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/document/111779|access-date=2020-10-04|website=digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org}}</ref> showcasingshowing Rusk's "weak character".
 
Later, under the leadership of [[Leonid Brezhnev]], Gromyko played a key role in the establishment of [[détente]], a new phase of Soviet–American relations characterized by a significant reduction of tensions which lasted until 1979. In furtherance of this new arrangement, he oversaw the signing of the [[Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons]] on 1 July 1968, the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty|ABM]] and [[SALT I]] treaties in 1972, and the [[Agreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War]] in 1973. During his 28 years as Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko supported the policy of disarmament, stating in his ''Memoirs'' that "Disarmament is the ideal of Socialism".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/org.wgbh.mla:6732aaadbb6d9a8c28bef4c622c0336cb35e079d |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120713145821/http://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/org.wgbh.mla:6732aaadbb6d9a8c28bef4c622c0336cb35e079d |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 July 2012 |title=Interview with Andrei Gromyko, 1988 |last=Cooper |first=Helene |publisher=Open Vault WGBH Archives |year=1988 |access-date=11 September 2010 }}</ref>
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Throughout his career, Gromyko explicitly promoted the idea that no important international agreement could be reached without the Soviet Union's involvement.<ref>{{cite book | author = Zeigler, Charles E. | title = The History of Russia | publisher = [[ABC-CLIO]] | year = 2009 | page = 110 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7moY9FF4raQC | isbn = 978-0-313-36307-8 }}</ref> Towards this end, one accomplishment he took particular pride in was the signing of the [[Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty]] whose negotiation could be traced back to 1958. Additionally, in 1966, Gromyko and [[Alexei Kosygin]] persuaded both Pakistan and India to sign the [[Tashkent Declaration]], a peace treaty in the aftermath of the [[Indo-Pakistan war of 1965]]. Later in the same year, he engaged in a dialogue with [[Pope Paul VI]], as part of the pontiff's [[ostpolitik]] that resulted in greater openness for the Roman [[Catholic Church]] in [[Eastern Europe]]<ref>{{cite book | author = O'Sullivan, John | title = The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World | publisher = [[Regnery Publishing]] | year = 2009 | pages = 94–5 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EnMVq0jcIUEC | isbn = 978-1-59698-016-7 }}</ref> despite [[USSR anti-religious campaign (1970s–1987)|heavy persecution]] of [[Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|Christians in the Soviet Union]] itself.<ref>{{cite book | author = Pospielovsky, Dimitry V. | title = A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice, and the Believer, vol 2: Soviet Anti-Religious Campaigns and Persecutions | publisher = [[St Martin's Press]] | volume = 2 | year = 1988 | page = [https://archive.org/details/presidentpopepri00osul/page/160 160] | url = https://archive.org/details/presidentpopepri00osul/page/160 | isbn = 1-59698-016-8 }}</ref>
 
In 1973, Gromyko was promoted to a full voting member of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]], the Soviet Union's highest decision-making body.<ref name="whowho">{{cite book | author = McCauley, Martin | title = Who's who in Russia since 1900 | publisher = [[Routledge]] | year = 2002 | page = 100 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SmtzBDDlCfMC| isbn = 0-415-13898-1 }}</ref> UponAccording to Christian Schmidt-Häuer, upon Gromyko reaching the peak of his power and influence, Gromyko'shis approach to diplomacy began to suffer from the same qualities that underpinned his early career. His-his "exceptional memory and confidence in his experience" now made him inflexible, unimaginative and "devoid of a long-term vision" for histhe countryUSSR.<ref name="two"/> By the time [[Yuri Andropov]] and [[Konstantin Chernenko]] rose to the Soviet leadership, Gromyko frequently found himself advocating a harder line than his superiors.<ref name="two">{{cite book | author = Schmidt-Häuer, Christian | title = Gorbachev: The Path to Power | publisher = [[I.B.Tauris]] | year = 1986 | page = 107 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1Of3z2l3XrYC | isbn = 978-1-85043-015-5 }}</ref>
 
[[File:RIAN archive 404643 Andrei Gromyko speaking at the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE).jpg|thumb|Gromyko at the Stockholm Conference in 1984]]
When Brezhnev's ability to govern was impaired following a stroke in 1975, Gromyko effectively dominated Soviet policymaking alongside KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov, Defense Minister [[Andrei Grechko]], and Grechko's successor, Marshal [[Dmitry Ustinov]], for the rest of Brezhnev's rule.{{sfn|Figes|2014|p=266}} After Brezhnev's death in 1982, Andropov was voted in as General Secretary by the Politburo. Immediately after his appointment, Andropov asked Gromyko if he wanted to take over Brezhnev's old office of the [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]]. However, Gromyko turned down Andropov's offer, believing Andropov would eventually take the office for himself.<ref>{{cite web | author = Tikhonov, Dmitry | script-title=ru:Андрей Андреевич Громыко | language = ru | publisher = people.ru | url = http://www.peoples.ru/state/ambassador/gromyko/ | access-date = 11 September 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101011141746/http://www.peoples.ru/state/ambassador/gromyko/| archive-date= 11 October 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>
 
Ever since being appointed Foreign Minister in February 1957, Gromyko never challenged the authority of those electedchosen to lead the Soviet Union by the Central Committee. However, this changed when the ailing [[Konstantin Chernenko]] rose to become the country's [[de jure]] ruler. Unimpressed by the new leader's feeble gaspgrasp of foreign relations and weak standing in the Politburo, Gromyko aggressively asserted control over Soviet diplomacy to the point of regularly interrupting and contradicting Chernenko in front of other world leaders.<ref>{{cite book |author= Zemstov, Ilya |title= Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik |publisher= Transaction Publishers |year=1989 |pages=233–234 |isbn=0-88738-260-6}}</ref> Thus, despite Chernenko's interest in reviving [[détente]], the longtime Foreign Minister's distrust of "the West" renderedmeant anythere relaxationwas ofno attempt to return to such tensionsa impossiblepolicy.
 
After Chernenko's death in 1985, Gromyko nominated [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] for the General Secretary on 11 March 1985. In supporting Gorbachev, Gromyko knew that the influence he carried would be strong.<ref>{{cite book | author = O'Sullivan, John | title = The President, the Pope, and the Prime Minister: Three Who Changed the World | publisher = [[Regnery Publishing]] | year = 2009 | page = 223 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=EnMVq0jcIUEC | isbn = 978-1-59698-016-7 }}</ref> Upon being elected, Gorbachev relieved Gromyko as foreign minister and replaced him with [[Eduard Shevardnadze]]. Subsequently, he was appointed to the largely honorary position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.{{sfn|Elliott|Lewin|2005|p=238}}
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==Head of state, retirement and death==
[[File:2009. Stamp of Belarus 21-2009-07-07-m.jpg|thumb|upright|A Belarusian stamp from 2009 depicting Gromyko]]
Gromyko held the office of the [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]], literally head of state, which was largely ceremonial, and his influence in ruling circles diminished. A number of [[First World]] journalists believed Gromyko was uncomfortable with many of Gorbachev's reforms,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BVcNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6949,8130282&dq=andrei+gromyko&hl=en |title=Gorbachev takes reform plans to party plenum|date=25 June 1987|work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]]|access-date=12 September 2010}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> however, in his ''Memoirs'' Gromyko wrote fondly of Gorbachev and the policy of [[perestroika]]. Gromyko believed that perestroika was about working for the construction of a socialist society{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=70}} and saw [[glasnost]] and perestroika as an attempt at making the USSR more democratic.{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=265}}
 
During a party conference in July 1988, Vladimir Melnikov called for Gromyko's resignation. Melnikov blamed Brezhnev for the [[Era of Stagnation|economic and political stagnation]] that had hit the Soviet Union, seeing that Gromyko, as a prominent member of the Brezhnev leadership, was one of the men who had led the USSR into the crisis.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8WYVAAAAIBAJ&pg=3655,88759&dq=andrei+gromyko&hl=en |title=Gromyko resignation urged at conference|date=2 July 1988|work=Manile Standard|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref> Gromyko was promptly defended as "a man respected by the people" in a note by an anonymous delegate.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fA01AAAAIBAJ&pg=3739,66502&dq=andrei+gromyko&hl=en |title=President Gromyko called on to resign|date=1 July 1988|work=[[The Glasgow Herald]]|access-date=12 September 2010 }}</ref> After discussing it with his wife Gromyko decided to leave [[Soviet politics]] for good. Gromyko recounts in his ''Memoirs'' that before he made it official he told Gorbachev that he wished to resign. The following day, 1 October 1988, Gromyko sat beside Gorbachev, [[Yegor Ligachev]] and [[Nikolai Ryzhkov]] in the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union|Supreme Soviet]] to make his resignation official:{{sfn|Gromyko|1989|p=8}}
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<blockquote>Such moments in life are just as memorable as when one is appointed to prominent positions. When my [[comrade]]s took farewell to me, I was equally moved as I had ever been when I was given an important office. What I thought most about was that I had finished my duties towards the people, the Party and the state. This memory is very precious to me.</blockquote>
 
Gorbachev succeeded Gromyko in office as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n1YVAAAAIBAJ&pg=5744,3071609&dq=andrei+gromyko&hl=en |title=Demoted Politburo 'more equal'|author=McManus, Doyle|date=4 October 1988|work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|access-date=12 September 2010}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> After his resignation Gorbachev praised Gromyko for his half-century of service to USSR. Critics, such as [[Alexander Belonogov]], the [[Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations|Permanent Representative of the Soviet Union to the United Nations]], claimed Gromyko's foreign policy was permeated with "a spirit of intolerance and confrontation".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Wx8fAAAAIBAJ&pg=1376,2138096&dq=andrei+gromyko&hl=en|title=Soviet official critical of Gromyko in party newspaper|author=Parks, Michael|date=3 October 1988|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=12 September 2010}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
 
After retiring from active politics in 1989 Gromyko started working on his memoirs.<ref name="gromykobio">{{cite web | script-title=ru:Громыко Андрей Андреевич | language = ru | publisher = hrono.ru | url = http://www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_g/gromyko_aa.php | access-date = 8 October 2010 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100920115916/http://www.hrono.ru/biograf/bio_g/gromyko_aa.php| archive-date= 20 September 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref> Gromyko died on 2 July 1989, just 16 days before what would have been his 80th birthday, after being [[hospital]]ised for a [[Blood vessel|vascular]] problem that was not further identified.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Pall-bearers along towards MS Portrait of former Soviet Foreign... |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/andrei-gromyko-funeral-ussr-moscow-novodevichy-cemetery-news-footage/1162931839 |access-date=2023-08-16 |website=Getty Images |date=19 July 2019 |language=en-us}}</ref> His death was followed by a minute of silence at the [[Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union|Congress of People's Deputies]] to commemorate him. The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union ([[TASS]]), the central news organ in the USSR, called him one of the country's most "prominent leaders". [[President of the United States]] [[George H. W. Bush]] sent his condolences to Gromyko's son, Anatoly.<ref name="AP">{{cite news|title=Andrei Gromyko Dies, Was Soviet Diplomat for 50 Years|url= https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73885751.html?dids=73885751:73885751&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Jul+04,+1989&author=David+Remnick&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Andrei+Gromyko+Dies,+Was+Soviet+Diplomat+for+50+Years&pqatl=google|date=4 July 1989|newspaper= [[The Washington Post]]|access-date=20 November 2010|author=Remnick, David }} (pay-fee)</ref> Gromyko was offered a grave in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], but at the request of his family he was not buried near the [[Moscow Kremlin Wall]] but instead at the [[Novodevichy Cemetery]].<ref name="gromykobio"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Novodevichy Cemetery|url=http://www.passportmagazine.ru/article/1099/|access-date=12 September 2013|work=Passport Magazine|date=April 2008}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
 
==Personal life==
Gromyko met his wife, [[Lydia Gromyko|Lydia]] (1911-20041911–2004) in [[Minsk]] where they were both studying agriculture at the Minsk Institute of Agricultural Science.<ref name=wife/><ref name=ct89>{{cite news|title=Soviet Statesman Andrei Gromyko, 79|url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1989-07-04/news/8902140699_1_mr-gromyko-soviet-leader-soviet-parliament|access-date=3 September 2013|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=4 July 1989|author1=Thom Shanker|author2=Vincent J. Schodolski}}</ref><ref name=flib>{{cite web|title=Biography of Andrey Andreyevich Gromyko|work=Ford Library Museum|date=31 May 1974|access-date=3 September 2013|url=http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/exhibits/vladivostok/gromyko.pdf}}</ref> They married in 1931.<ref>{{cite web
|title=Cold War: Biographies|url=http://www.gale.cengage.com/pdf/samples/sp676632.pdf|access-date=3 September 2013|work=GALE}} {{dead link|date=June 2023|bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> They had two children: a son, [[Anatoly Gromyko|Anatoly]], and a daughter, Emilia.<ref name=crw89>{{cite news|title=Andrei A. Gromyko: Flinty Face of Postwar Soviet Diplomacy
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0718.html|access-date=3 September 2013|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=4 July 1989|author=Craig R. Whitney}}</ref><ref name=ct89/> Anatoly (1932–2017) served as a diplomat and was an academic.<ref>{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Russia since 1900|year=1997|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London|page=100|author=Martin McCauley|author-link=Martin McCauley (historian)|chapter=Gromyko, Anatoly Andreevich|isbn=978-0-4151-3898-7|chapter-url=https://www.routledge.com/Whos-Who-in-Russia-since-1900/McCauley-Mccauley/p/book/9780415138987}}</ref>
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==Legacy==
[[File:President Ford aboard a Russian train headed for Vladivostok - NARA - 7160847.jpg|thumb|[[Leonid Brezhnev]] and Gromyko meeting with [[Henry Kissinger]] and President [[Gerald Ford]] in [[Vladivostok]], Soviet Union, 1974]]
Having been a person of considerable stature during his life, Gromyko held an unusual combination of personal characteristics. Some were impressed by his diplomatic skills, while others called Gromyko mundane and boring.{{sfn|Elliott|Lewin|2005|p=236}} An article written in 1981 in ''[[The Times]]'' said, "He is one of the most active and efficient members of the Soviet leadership. A man with an excellent memory, a keen intellect and extraordinary endurance [...] Maybe Andrey is the most informed Minister for Foreign affairs in the world".<ref name="gromykobio"/> Gromyko's dour demeanourdemeanor was shown clearly during his first term in Washington and echoed throughout his tenure as Soviet foreign minister. Ambassador [[Charles W. Yost]], who worked with Gromyko at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, the UN founding conference, and at the United Nations, recalled that the "humorless" Soviet ambassador "looked as though he was sucking a lemon."<ref name="history">{{cite book | author = Yost, Charles W. | title = History and Memory | publisher = [[W. W. Norton & Company|Norton]] | year = 1980 | page = [https://archive.org/details/historymemory00char/page/116 116] | isbn = 9780393014082 | url = https://archive.org/details/historymemory00char | url-access = registration }}</ref>
There is a story that Gromyko was leaving a Washington hotel one morning and was asked by a reporter; "Minister Gromyko, did you enjoy your breakfast today?" His response was "Perhaps."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2559747.stm|title=Postcard from Budapest|date=10 December 2002|publisher=[[BBC]]|access-date=12 September 2010}}</ref>
 
During his twenty-eight years as minister of foreign affairs Gromyko became renowned by his peers tofor bebeing consumed by his work. Henry Kissinger once said "If you can face Gromyko for one hour and survive, then you can begin to call yourself a diplomat". Gromyko's work influenced Soviet and Russian ambassadors such as [[Anatoly Dobrynin]]. MashHistorians LewisGregory Elliot and GregoryMoshe ElliottLewin described Gromyko's main characteristic as his "complete identification with the interest of the state and his faithful service to it"., Accordinghelping to historians Gregory Elliot and Moshe Lewin this could help explain his so-called "boring" personality and the mastery of his own ego.{{sfn|Elliott|Lewin|2005|p=237}} [[West Germany|West German]] politician [[Egon Bahr]], when commenting on Gromyko's [[memoir]]s, said;{{sfn|Elliott|Lewin|2005|p=237}}
 
<blockquote>He has concealed a veritable treasure-trove from future generations and taken to the grave with him an inestimable knowledge of international connection between the historical events and major figures of his time, which only he could offer. What a pity that this very man proved incapable to the very end of evoking his experience. As a faithful servant of the state, he believed that he should restrict himself to a sober, concise presentation of the bare essentials.{{sfn|Elliott|Lewin|2005|pp=237–38}}</blockquote>
 
On 18 July 2009, the Republic [[Belarus]] ruled by [[Alexander Lukashenko]] marked the 100th anniversary of Gromyko's birth with nationwide celebrations. In the city of his birth many people laid flowers in front of his bust. A ceremony was held attended by his son and daughter, Anatoly and Emiliya. Several exhibitions were opened and dedicated to his honour and a school and a street in Gomel were renamed in honour of him.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ont.by/news/our_news/0045435/|script-title=ru:Беларусь отмечает 100-летие со дня рождения Андрея Громыко – дипломата с мировым именем|language=ru|publisher=[[Obshchenatsional'noe Televidenie]]|date=18 July 2009|access-date=11 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Andrey Gromyko|url=http://landofancestors.com/famous/politician/84-andrey-gromyko.html|work=Land of Ancestors|access-date=30 November 2012}}</ref>
 
==Decorations and awards==
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* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060828142032/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FGromyko%2C+Andrei Annotated bibliography for Andrei Gromyko from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [https://archive.org/details/TheOverseasExpansionOfCapital ''The Overseas Expansion of Capital: Past and Present''] by Gromyko, 1985.
* [https://archive.org/details/leninsovietpeacepolicygromyko ''Lenin and the Soviet Peace Policy: Articles and Speeches, 1944-19801944–1980''] by Gromyko.
* {{PM20|FID=pe/006569}}
 
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[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1989 deaths]]
[[Category:People from VietkaVyetka District]]
[[Category:People from Gomelsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]]
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[[Category:Members of the Politburo of the 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Politburo of the 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet Ministers of Foreignforeign affairs of the Soviet AffairsUnion]]
[[Category:Permanent Representatives of the Soviet Union to the United Nations]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the Soviet Union to the United Kingdom]]
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