Hero of Socialist Labour
Hero of Socialist Labor (Russian: Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskovo Truda) was an honorary title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. It was the highest degree of distinction for exceptional achievements in national economy and culture. It provided a similar status to the title Hero of the Soviet Union that was awarded for heroic deeds, but unlike the latter, was not awarded to foreign citizens.
The title was introduced by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on December 27, 1938. It was awarded by the Presidium to citizens who contributed to the development of the Soviet industry, agriculture, transportation, trade, science and technology and promoted the might and the glory of the Soviet Union.
At first, Heroes of Socialist Labor were awarded the highest decoration of the Soviet Union—the Order of Lenin—and a certificate from the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. To distinguish the Heroes from other Order of Lenin recipients, the "Hammer and Sickle" gold medal was later introduced by decree of the Presidium on May 22, 1940, to accompany the Order of Lenin and the certificate. Like the HSU Gold Star Medal, this medal is always worn in full.
Heroes of Socialist Labor 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 home towns to mark the occasion. Thrice Heroes of Socialist Labor were to have their busts placed near the planned Palace of Soviets, but this was never implemented as the Palace of Soviets was never built.
The medal was designed by the artist A. Pomansky. The size of the medal was chosen by Joseph Stalin, who invited actors costumed as typical workers, peasants, etc. to wear models of the medal in different sizes. Eventually he chose the diameter of the star to be 33.5 mm.
The first recipient of the award was Joseph Stalin himself (20 December 1939). The second recipient of the award was the designer of machine guns Vasily Degtyaryov (2 January 1940). The third time (and the last before the onset of the Great Patriotic War) the award was issued to nine weapons designers, including Fedor Tokarev, Boris Shpitalny, Nikolai Polikarpov, Alexander Yakovlev, Emilian Bukov and Vladimir Klimov.
By September 1, 1971, 16,245 people had been awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (including 4,497 women). One hundred and five people (including 25 women) have been awarded two or more "Hammer and Sickle" medals. As of 1991 (the break-up of the USSR), some 19,000 people have been awarded the title.
Only the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union could deprive a person of this title.
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