---
born: 1904-02-20
category: Other
died: 1980-12-18
location: Saint Petersburg, Russia
summary: Premier of the Soviet Union who flew to Cairo during the 1973 Yom Kippur
  War to persuade Sadat to accept a cease-fire, defusing a crisis that had triggered
  a U.S. nuclear alert.
tags:
- Person
---

Alexei N. Kosygin was the Premier of the [Soviet Union](/places/soviet-union/) from 1964 to 1980. In mid-October 1973, during the [Yom Kippur War](/events/yom-kippur-war/), Kosygin flew to [Cairo](/places/cairo/) and persuaded [Anwar Sadat](/people/anwar-sadat/) to call for a cease-fire. This occurred after the Israeli military had successfully counterattacked in the Golan Heights and the [Sinai](/places/sinai/), ending any immediate threat and the necessity for the nuclear alert.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 17.