Short answers, pulled from the story.
Nikolai Podgorny was a Soviet statesman who served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, the head of state of the Soviet Union, from 1965 to 1977. He was born on the 18th of February 1903 in Karlovka and died on the 12th of January 1983 in Kiev.
Podgorny was removed by a unanimous Central Committee vote on the 24th of May 1977, proposed by Grigory Romanov. Brezhnev had been working to oust him since at least 1970, partly because Podgorny outranked him in Soviet diplomatic protocol and his chairmanship provided a constitutional base of power that blocked Brezhnev's consolidation of control.
Podgorny and Brezhnev jointly appealed to the Central Committee in October 1964, accusing Khrushchev of economic failures, voluntarism, and immodest behaviour. Politburo members, influenced by Brezhnev and his allies, voted to remove Khrushchev from office.
After Khrushchev's removal, a collective leadership known as a troika was formed: Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary, Alexei Kosygin as Premier, and Anastas Mikoyan as head of state. Podgorny replaced Mikoyan as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on the 6th of December 1965.
The 1977 Soviet Constitution, approved on the 7th of October 1977, included a new provision allowing the Party leader to also serve as Chairman of the Presidium. This provision, developed by Konstantin Chernenko on Brezhnev's orders, removed the legal protection that had made Podgorny difficult to oust while still in office.
After losing the chairmanship on the 16th of June 1977, Podgorny's name disappeared from Soviet media. He retained his seat in the Supreme Soviet for a time but lost it shortly after being observed at the 61st anniversary reception of the October Revolution in November 1978. He was also removed from Dmitry Nalbandyan's 1977 painting of Soviet leaders at Red Square, held at the Tretyakov Gallery.