Vladimir Semyonov (politician)

Vladimir Semyonov Владимир Семёнов
Ambassador to East Germany
In office 29 May 1953 – 14 July 1954
Preceded by	Ivan Ilyichev
Succeeded by	Georgy Pushkin
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office March 1955 – November 1978
Ambassador to West Germany
In office 10 November 1978 – 15 April 1986
Preceded by	Valentin Falin
Succeeded by	Yulii Kvitsinsky
Personal details
Born	(1911-02-16)16 February 1911 Inokovka, Kirsanovsky Uyezd, Russian Empire
Died	18 December 1992(1992-12-18) (aged 81) Cologne, Germany
Nationality	Russian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Alma mater	MIFLM
Profession	Diplomat, civil servant

Vladimir Semenovich Semyonov (Russian: Владимир Семёнович Семёнов; 16 February 1911, Kirsanovsky Uyezd, Russia – 18 December 1992, Cologne, Germany) was a Soviet diplomat most notable for his military administration in Eastern Germany during the Soviet occupation after World War II. He was instrumental in the creation of GDR, and served as the first Soviet ambassador to East Germany.

Career as Soviet diplomat

Semyonov waving his hand in front of the Smolna building in Helsinki, Finland in November 1969

• 1939 – employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID)
• 1939–1940 – advisor of Soviet Plenipotentiary Representation in Lithuania
• 1940–1941 – counsellor of the Soviet Embassy in Nazi Germany
• 1941–1942 – executive of the Third European Department of the MID
• 1942–1945 – counsellor of the Soviet Mission in Sweden
• 1945–1946 – deputy to Political Counsellor of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany
• 1946–1949 – Political Counsellor of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany
• 1949–1953 – Political Counsellor of the Soviet Control Committee in Germany
• 1953 — Senior Executive, Deputy Chief, Chief of the Third European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, member of Ministry Board of the MID.
• 1953–1954 – Chief Commissar of USSR in Germany and an ambassador to the GDR;
• 1954–1955 – Executive of the Third European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• 1955–1978 – Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1968–1978 – Chief of the Soviet delegation at the Soviet-American negotiations on reduction of strategic weapons in Helsinki, Vienna, Geneva. Prepared the 1973 SALT-1 and 1978 SALT-2 Treaties for signing by General Secretaries Leonid Brezhnev and Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.
• 1978–1986 – Ambassador to West Germany
• 1986–1991 – Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large, Counsellor to the Foreign Minister