Hero of Socialist Labour - Misplaced Pages

"Hero of Labour" redirects here. For other uses, see Hero of Labour (GDR), Hero of Labor (Vietnam), Hero of Labor (North Korea), and Hero of Socialist Labour (Albania). Highest Soviet state award

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (January 2022) Click for important translation instructions.

Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|ru|Герой Социалистического Труда}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Ukrainian. (December 2021) Click for important translation instructions.

Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Misplaced Pages.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Ukrainian Misplaced Pages article at ]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|uk|Герой Соціалістичної Праці}} to the talk page.
For more guidance, see Misplaced Pages:Translation.

Award

Hero of Socialist Labour
"Sickle and Hammer" of the Hero of Socialist Labour medal
Type	Highest degree of distinction
Awarded for	Exceptional achievements in national economy and culture
Presented by	Soviet Union
Eligibility	Soviet citizens
Status	Replaced by "Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation"
Established	27 December 1938
First awarded	20 December 1939
Last awarded	24 December 1991
Total	20,812 105 people with two awards 16 people with three awards
Related	Hero of the Soviet Union Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation

The Hero of Socialist Labour (Russian: Герой Социалистического Труда, romanized: Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievements in Soviet industry and culture. It provided a similar status to the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which was awarded for heroic deeds, but differed in that it was not awarded to foreign citizens.

History

The Title "Hero of Socialist Labour" was introduced by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on December 27, 1938.

Originally, Heroes of Socialist Labour were awarded the highest decoration of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, and a diploma from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. In order to distinguish the Heroes of Socialist Labour from other Order of Lenin recipients, the "Hammer and Sickle" gold medal was introduced by decree of the Presidium on 22 May 1940, to accompany the Order of Lenin and diploma.

The first recipient of the award was Joseph Stalin, awarded by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on December 20, 1939. The second recipient was machine gun designer Vasily Degtyaryov (2 January 1940). The third (and the last before the onset of Operation Barbarossa) was issued to nine weapons designers, including Fedor Tokarev, Boris Shpitalniy, Nikolai Polikarpov, Alexander Yakovlev and Vladimir Klimov [ru]. Post-1945 recipients include Mikhail Koshkin, Mikhail Kalashnikov, Nikolai Afanasyev, Emilian Bucov, Alexander Tselikov, Dmitri Shostakovich, Peter Andreevich Tkachev, and Andrei Tupolev.

By September 1, 1971, 16,245 people (11,748 men, 4,497 women) had been awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour. One hundred and five people (80 men, 25 women) have been awarded multiple "Hammer and Sickle" medals. By 1991, at the dissolution of the Soviet Union, over 20,000 people had been awarded the title.

In the history of the USSR, 16 people became Heroes of Socialist Labour three times:

In March 2013, Vladimir Putin issued a decree establishing a title considered to be its successor, "Hero of Labour of the Russian Federation".

Statute

The Honorific title "Hero of Socialist Labour" was awarded by the Presidium to citizens who made significant contributions to the advancement of Soviet industry, agriculture, transportation, trade, science and technology, or otherwise served as exemplary models of the Soviet worker.

Heroes of Socialist Labour who attained further exceptional achievements were awarded a second "Hammer and Sickle" medal and bronze busts of the Heroes were to be constructed in their hometowns to mark the occasion. Thrice Heroes of Socialist Labour were to have their busts placed near the planned Palace of the Soviets, but this was never implemented as the Palace of Soviets was never built.

Only the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union could deprive a person of this title. The insignia "Hero of Socialist Labour", like the "Hero of the Soviet Union" Gold Star Medal, is always worn in full on the left side of the chest and in the presence of other orders and medals, placed above them. If worn with honorific titles of the Russian Federation, the latter have precedence.

Award description

The title "Hero of Socialist Labour" was designed by the artist A. Pomansky. Its gold hammer and sickle insignia was a five-pointed star with smooth dihedral rays on the obverse, the diameter of the circumscribed star was 33.5 mm. In the centre of the obverse, a relief hammer and sickle respectively of 14 and 13 mm. It weighed 15.25 grams. The reverse was plain and was surrounded by a slightly raised rim. In the centre, the relief inscription "Hero of Socialist Labour" (Russian: "Герой Социалистического Труда") in 2mm high letters, the award serial number was inscribed just above in 1mm high numbers. The insignia was secured to a standard 25 × 15 mm Soviet square mount by a ring through the suspension loop. The mount was covered by a red silk moiré ribbon. On the reverse of the mount was a threaded stub and nut to secure the award to clothing.

References

^ "Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 27, 1938" (in Russian). Legal Library of the USSR. 1938-12-27. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
^ "Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 22, 1940" (in Russian). Legal Library of the USSR. 1940-05-22. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
^ "Hero of Socialist Labor". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). The Gale Group, Inc. 1970–1979. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
"Russia seeks new generation of 'heroes'". BBC News. 1 May 2013.
"Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of September 7, 2010 No 1099" (in Russian). Russian Gazette. 2010-09-07. Retrieved 2012-02-25.

Oruzhie Magazine, Page 9, Issue 5 1998 & Issue 6 1998.
"Солдат удачи" номер 9 (72) 2000 Д.Ширяев "Кто изобрел автомат Калашникова"

External links

(in Russian) History of the award Archived 2011-04-08 at the Wayback Machine
(in Russian) Legal Library of the USSR

v t e Orders, decorations, and medals of the Soviet Union
Highest grade of distinction	Hero of the Soviet Union Hero of Socialist Labour Mother Heroine
Honorary titles	Honoured Military Pilot Honoured Military Navigator Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR Honoured Test Pilot Honoured Test Navigator Honoured Pilot Honoured Navigator Honoured Inventor People's Artist People's Doctor People's Architect People's Teacher
Civil and military orders	Order of Victory Order of Lenin Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Order of Ushakov Order of Kutuzov Order of Nakhimov Order of the Red Star Order of the Patriotic War Order of Alexander Nevsky Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Order of Glory Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" Order of the Red Banner of Labour Order of Friendship of Peoples Order of the Badge of Honour Order of Maternal Glory Order of Labour Glory Order of Honour Order "For Personal Courage"
Military medals	Medal "For Courage" Medal "For Battle Merit" Medal of Ushakov Medal of Nakhimov For Distinction in Guarding the State Border For Distinction in the Protection of Public Order For Distinction in Military Service For Strengthening Military Cooperation For Impeccable Service Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR
Second World War medals	For the Defence of Leningrad Odessa Sevastopol Stalingrad Moscow Caucasus Soviet Transarctic Kyiv For the Capture of Berlin Budapest Königsberg Vienna For the Liberation of Prague Warsaw Belgrade For the Victory over Germany For the Victory over Japan To a Partisan of the Patriotic War For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War
Civil medals	For Labour Valour For Distinguished Labour For the Salvation of the Drowning For Courage in a Fire Veteran of Labour For the Restoration of the Donbass Coal Mines For the Restoration of the Black Metallurgy Enterprises of the South For the Development of Virgin Lands For Construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway For Transforming the Non-Black Earth For the Tapping of the Subsoil of Western Siberia
Jubilee medals	XX Years of the Red Army 30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy 40 50 60 70 Years of the Armed Forces 20 30 40 Years of Victory 800th Anniversary of Moscow 250th Anniversary of Leningrad 1500th Anniversary of Kyiv 50 Years of the Soviet Militia 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Lenin
Soviet Union portal

Categories:

History

Statute

Award description

See also

References

External links