I have been reading Andrei Gromyko’s autobiography, Memories.
When I was a kid, he seemed to
me to be an enigmatic and cunning man whom I thought was probably rather cold
and disciplined. I have found him very
engaging as a teller of his story. He was a man I probably would have valued as
a friend. He seems to have been warm-hearted, humble, well-mannered, introspective,
compassionate, focused and with a powerful intellect. In short, a fine man.
He tells, in his book, of Stalin’s death. My impression
had been that Stalin died a painful death of poisoning (courtesy of Khrushchev)
alone in his chamber, and that the servants were afraid to look in on him when
he was late showing himself because they had suffered his wrath before. Gromyko
says that Stalin died in the company of several Politburo members who were
attending his bedside. I feel inclined to research this further. I wonder why I
thought otherwise.
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