Order of Lenin
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Order of Lenin
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The Order of Lenin (Russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest national order of the Soviet Union. The Order was bestowed for the following:
- to civilians for outstanding services rendered to the State
- to members of the armed forces for exemplary service
- to those who promoted friendship and cooperation between peoples and in strengthening peace
- other meritorious services to the Soviet state and society
Those who were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Hero of Socialist Labor were also given the Order at the same time. The Order was also bestowed on cities, companies, factories, regions, military units and ships. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The first native recipient was a Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on May 23, 1930. First foreign recipients were two American air mechanics on September 10, 1934 for participation in search and rescue operations of the steamship Cheliuskin.
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[edit] Design of the medal
The final design of the Order of Lenin was accepted in 1934. The Order consisted of a badge, featuring a disc bearing the portrait of Vladimir Lenin in platinum. The disc is surrounded by two golden panicles of wheat, and a red flag with the word "Lenin" in Russian (Ленин). A red star is placed on the left, and a Hammer and Sickle emblem is located at the bottom, also colored in red. The badge was worn on the left chest, originally without ribbon, later with a red ribbon bearing two yellow stripes on each edge (see image above). (Note: The ribbon for the Order is the same as that of the British Fire Services Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.)
[edit] Recipients
- All 14 SSR's and the RSFSR
- Cities
- Companies
- Pravda (Newspaper)
- People
- Aleksandr Vasilevsky (Soviet marshal, awarded 8 times)
- Sergey Afanasiev (Soviet "Space Minister", awarded 7 times)
- Fidel Castro (Cuban Leader)
- George Formby (British Actor) [1]
- Yuri Gagarin (Cosmonaut)
- Israel Gelfand (Soviet mathematician, awarded 3 times)
- Armand Hammer (American Businessman and Philanthropist)
- Nikita Khrushchev (Soviet Premier)
- Vladimir Konovalov (sub-commander, and admiral, awarded 3 times)
- Kirill Mazurov (Belarusian Soviet politician)
- Boris Mikhailov (Soviet Ice Hockey Team Captain in 1970s and 80s)
- Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egyptian President)
- Nikolai Ostrovsky (Soviet author, 1904-1936)
- Kim Philby (British/Soviet double agent) [2]
- Arnold Rüütel, Estonian communist leader, later president of the independent Estonia
- Josip Broz Tito (President of Yugoslavia 1945-1980) [3]
- Gherman Titov (cosmanaut, awarded twice)
- Vladislav Tretiak (Soviet ice hockey goaltender)
- Vladislav Volkov (cosmonaut)
- Kliment Voroshilov (Marshal of the SU)
- Lev Yashin (Soviet Football Goalkeeper)
- Vasily Grigoryevich Zaitsev (Soviet sniper during the Battle of Stalingrad)
- Yakov Zel'dovich (Soviet physicist)
- Georgy Zhukov (Marshal of the SU)
- Lyudmila Zykina (Folk singer)
- Fyodor Okhlopkov (WWII hero)
[edit] References in popular culture
In the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October, the doctor on the Red October tells the captain of the ship, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) that his plan to scuttle the ship (and die with the other officers on board) rather than allow the Americans to capture it and the secret technology on board, whilst saving the non-commissioned crewmembers, would earn him the Order.
In the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the Soviet scientist Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin shows off his various awards including the Order of Lenin and boasts about being given the title of 'Hero of Socialism' for his development of the mobile ballistic missile system known as SS-1C.
James Bond receives the Order in the 1985 film A View to a Kill. It is awarded by General Anatol Gogol, for saving the American microchip industry (and thus, by implication of heavy espionage, the Soviet microchip industry!), which was going to be destroyed by the main villain Max Zorin. In the movie, Bond is said to be the first non-Soviet citizen to receive the award, though this is not historically accurate. Various other villains and characters in the James Bond movie series have worn the Order on their uniforms, usually in the form of a ribbon bar.
