Viktor Abakumov

Viktor Abakumov
Abakumov in the 1940s
Born	24 April 1908 (1908-04-24) Moscow, Russian Empire
Died	19 December 1954 (1954-12-20) (aged 46) Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Children	Igor Smirnov
Espionage activity
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Service branch	OGPU GULAG GUGB SMERSH
Rank	Colonel general

Viktor Semyonovich Abakumov (Russian: Виктор Семёнович Абакумов; 24 April 1908 – 19 December 1954) was a high-level Soviet security official who from 1943 to 1946 was the head of SMERSH in the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense, and from 1946 to 1951 of the Minister of State Security or MGB (ex-NKGB). He was removed from office and arrested in 1951 on charges of failing to investigate the Doctors' Plot. After the death of Joseph Stalin, Abakumov was tried for fabricating the Leningrad Affair, sentenced to death and executed in 1954.