Order of Lenin

The Order of Lenin (Russian: Орден Ленина, romanized: Orden Lenina, pronounced [ˈordʲɪn ˈlʲenʲɪnə]), was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union. The order was awarded to:

  • Civilians for outstanding services rendered to the State
  • Members of the armed forces for exemplary service
  • Those who promoted friendship and cooperation between people and in strengthening peace
  • Those with meritorious services to the Soviet state and society[1]
Order of Lenin
Order of Lenin, Type 4 awarded from 1943 to 1991
TypeSingle-grade order
Awarded for
  • outstanding services rendered to the State,
  • exemplary service in the armed forces,
  • promoting friendship and cooperation between people and in strengthening peace, and
  • meritorious services to the Soviet state and society
Presented by Soviet Union
EligibilityCitizens of the Soviet Union; foreigners; institutions, enterprises and collectives
StatusAwarded only by the CPRF
EstablishedApril 6, 1930
First awardedMay 23, 1930
Last awardedDecember 21, 1991
Total431,418
Ribbon of the Order of Lenin
Precedence
Next (lower)Order of the October Revolution
Order of Lenin, type 3

From 1944 to 1957, before the institution of a specific length of service medals, the Order of Lenin was also used to reward 25 years of conspicuous military service. Those who were awarded the titles "Hero of the Soviet Union" and "Hero of Socialist Labour" were also given the order as part of the award. It was also bestowed on cities, companies, factories, regions, military units, and ships. Various educational institutions and military units who received the said Order applied the full name of the order into their official titles.

Design

The first design of the Order of Lenin was sculpted by Pyotr Tayozhny and Ivan Shadr based on sketches by Ivan Dubasov. It was made by Goznak of silver with some lightly gold-plated features. It was a round badge with a central disc featuring Vladimir Lenin's profile surrounded by smokestacks, a tractor and a building, possibly a power plant. A thin red-enamelled border and a circle of wheat panicles surrounded the disc. At the top was a gold-plated "hammer and sickle" emblem, and at the bottom were the Russian initials for "USSR" (Russian: СССР) in red enamel. Only about 800 of this design were minted. It was awarded between 1930 and 1932.[2]

The second design was awarded from 1934 until 1936. This was a solid gold badge, featuring a silver plated disc bearing Lenin's portrait. The disc is surrounded by two golden panicles of wheat, and a red flag with "LENIN" in Cyrillic script (Russian: ЛЕНИН). A red star is placed on the left and the "hammer and sickle" emblem at the bottom, both in red enamel.

The third design was awarded from 1936 until 1943. The design was the same as previous, but the central disc was gray enamelled and Lenin's portrait was a separate piece made of platinum fixed by rivets.

The fourth design was awarded from 1943 until 1991. Design was the same as previous, but was worn as a medal suspended from a ribbon (all previous were screwback).

The badge was originally worn by screwback on the left chest without a ribbon. Later it was worn as a medal suspended from a red ribbon with pairs of yellow stripes at the edges (see image above). The ribbon bar is of the same design. The portrait of Lenin was originally a riveted silver piece. For a time it was incorporated into a one-piece gold badge, but finally returned as a separate platinum piece until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

  • Order of Lenin type 1 (1930–32)
    Order of Lenin type 1 (1930–32)
  • Order of Lenin type 2 (1934–36)
    Order of Lenin type 2 (1934–36)
  • Order of Lenin type 3 (1936–43)
    Order of Lenin type 3 (1936–43)
  • Order of Lenin type 4 (1943–91)
    Order of Lenin type 4 (1943–91)

Recipients

The first Order of Lenin was awarded to the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on 23 May 1930. Also among the first ten recipients were five industrial companies, three pilots, and the Secretary to the Central Executive Committee Avel Enukidze. The first person to be awarded a second Order of Lenin was the pilot Valery Chkalov in 1936. Another pilot, Vladimir Kokkinaki, became the first to receive a third Order in 1939.

The first five foreign recipients – who were presented with the Order on May 17, 1932 – comprised a German and four US citizens, one of whom was Frank Bruno Honey.[3] They received the award for helping in the reconstruction of Soviet industry and agriculture, during 1931–1934.[4]

431,418 orders were awarded in total, with the last on 21 December 1991.

Most frequent

Notable collective recipients

Notable individual recipients

Fictional recipients
  • In the James Bond film A View to a Kill, Bond is awarded the Order of Lenin by General Anatoli Gogol for defeating Max Zorin, and is described as the first foreign recipient; the first real foreign recipient was Luigi Longo.
  • In IPC Publication's Battle Picture Weekly, a character, "Johnny Red", is awarded the Order of Lenin for saving the life of a political commissar from a German air ace.
  • In the 1990 film adaption of Tom Clancy's first novel, The Hunt for Red October, following an order to surrender by a US Navy ship, Captain Ramius (Sean Connery) of Red October tells Dr. Petrov, the Chief Medical Officer (Tim Curry), "you will go with the crew; the officers and I will submerge beneath you and scuttle the ship." Dr. Petrov responds "You will receive the Order of Lenin for this, Captain."
  • In the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Jones's adversary Col. Irina Spalko was awarded the Order of Lenin three times.
  • In the video game Singularity, Viktor Barisov is awarded the Order of Lenin for his work on the fictional element E99.
  • In Ian Fleming's novel From Russia With Love, Colonel Rosa Klebb was awarded the order once and Colonel General Grubozaboyschihov was awarded it twice.[14]
  • In the 2004 video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, weapons designer Alexander Leonovitch Granin received the Order of Lenin for his inventions.
  • In the Person of Interest season 3 episode Razgovor, Genrika Zherova, a Russian immigrant in New York, keeps an Order of Lenin earned by her grandfather for his services in the KGB.
  • In a satirical political advertisement by The Lincoln Project, Fox News host Tucker Carlson was awarded the Order of Lenin for supporting Russia in its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.[15]

See also

References
  1. "Орден Ленина: история учреждения, эволюция и разновидности. Часть II". Archived from the original on 2016-11-30. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  2. McDaniel & Schmitt, The Comprehensive Guide to Soviet Orders and Medals.
  3. "One American, Frank Bruno Honey, received the Order of Lenin for his work." Dana G. Dalrymple, "The American Tractor Comes to Soviet Agriculture: The Transfer of a Technology", Technology and Culture, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), pp. 191–214
  4. (in Russian) Order of Lenin – history of establishment, evolution and varieties Archived 2020-09-21 at the Wayback Machine by Valery Durov
  5. "Nikolai Patolichev". Герои страны ("Heroes of the Country") (in Russian).
  6. "Ордена "Комсомольской правды"". 24 May 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-10-18. Retrieved 2015-12-23.
  7. The Junior Aircraft Year Book, 1935, p. 8.
  8. "Obituary reference in the Indian Parliament". Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-10-26.
  9. "Республика простилась с Героем Социалистического труда Валентиной Дмитриевой" [The Republic said goodbye to the Hero of Socialist Labor Valentina Dmitrieva] (in Russian). Ministry of Agriculture of the Chuvash Republic. 20 February 2019. Archived from the original on 16 December 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  10. Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman – from World War to Cold War.
  11. Kargapoltsev, Sergey. "Гаганова Валентина Ивановна" [Gaganova Valentina Ivanovna] (in Russian). Homeland heroes. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  12. "Kim Il Sung". Who's Who in Asian and Australasian Politics. London: Bowker-Saur. 1991. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-86291-593-3.
  13. Tito's Home Page – With world leaders Archived 2005-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
  14. Fleming, Ian. From Russia With Love, Signet Books, p.44
  15. Mother Russia, archived from the original on 2022-04-07, retrieved 2022-04-07
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