Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov (Russian: Михаил Андреевич Суслов; November 21, 1902 - January 25, 1982) was a Soviet statesman, communist theoretician and ideologist, and a member of the Politburo and Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Initially a professor of economics at Moscow State University, Suslov became the most prominent intellectual in the Soviet leadership under Joseph Stalin and held considerable sway over political decision making in the Soviet Union and beyond during the post-Stalin era. Known as "the Red Eminence", Suslov led the October 1964 coup d'etat that replaced Nikita Khrushchev with Leonid Brezhnev and is credited for promoting future Soviet leaders Yuri Andropov and Mikhail Gorbachev to top positions in the party.