Biographies Characteristics Analysis

The size of the Lenin Prize in 1976. List of laureates of the USSR Lenin Prize for Literature

Lenin Prize

Lenin Prize- in one of higher forms rewarding citizens for the most significant achievements in the field of science, technology, literature, art and architecture.

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The V.I. Lenin Prizes were established on June 23, 1925 by resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars. Initially awarded only for scientific works.

Not awarded from 1935 to 1957. On December 20, 1939, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of J.V. Stalin, a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars was adopted “On the establishment of a prize and scholarship named after Stalin.” It said: “In commemoration of the sixtieth birthday of Comrade Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, the Council People's Commissars USSR Decides: to establish 16 Stalin Prizes (in the amount of 100 thousand rubles each), awarded annually to scientists and artists for outstanding work in the field of: 1) physical and mathematical sciences, 2) technical sciences, 3) chemical sciences, 4) biological sciences, 5) agricultural sciences, 6) medical sciences, 7) philosophical sciences, 8) economic sciences, 9) historical and philological sciences, 10) legal sciences, 11) music, 12) painting, 13) sculpture, 14) architecture, 15) theatrical arts, 16) cinematography".

The number of prizes awarded and their size subsequently changed several times.

Stalin Prize

On August 15, 1956, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution to restore the V.I. Lenin Prizes and award them annually on V.I. Lenin’s birthday - April 22. In 1957, the awarding of Lenin Prizes for outstanding scientific works, architectural and technical structures, inventions introduced into National economy, technological processes and etc.; Lenin Prizes were also established for outstanding works of literature and art. In March 1960, the Lenin Prizes in the field of journalism and publicism were established.

Initially, 42 prizes were awarded. Since 1961, according to the regulations, up to 76 prizes could be awarded annually. Of these, up to 60 were awarded by the Committee for Lenin Prizes in the field of science and technology and up to 16 by the Committee for Lenin Prizes in the field of science and art under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. In 1967, this number of awards was reduced to 30. The laureates were awarded a diploma, a gold medal and a cash prize. Since 1961, the cash bonus amounted to 7,500 rubles each.

In the period 1956-1967, the Lenin Prize was the only state prize top level, so the number of its laureates was large. In 1967, the USSR State Prize was established, which began to be considered less prestigious, thereby increasing the level of the Lenin Prize.

According to the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated September 9, 1966, 30 Lenin Prizes were awarded once every 2 years (including 25 in science and technology, 5 in literature, art, architecture). Since 1966, Stalin Prize diplomas were replaced by corresponding State Prize diplomas. In 1970, an additional prize was established for works of literature and art for children. Since 1961, the cash bonus has been 10,000 rubles each.

Lenin Prizes- in the USSR, one of the highest forms of rewarding citizens for the most significant achievements in the field of science, technology, literature, art and architecture.

Consideration of works submitted for the Lenin Prize and decisions on awarding prizes were carried out by the committees for Lenin and State Prizes of the USSR under the Council of Ministers of the USSR. Resolutions of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Councils of Ministers of the USSR on the award of the Lenin Prize were published in the press on the birthday of V.I. Lenin. Persons who received the Lenin Prize were awarded the title “Lenin Prize Laureate” and were awarded a diploma, badge of honor and certificate. Lenin Prizes were not awarded again

Laureates in the field of literature:

* Jalil, Musa Mustafovich (posthumously) - poet, for the cycle of poems “Moabit Notebook”.
* Leonov, Leonid Maksimovich - writer, for the novel “Russian Forest”.

* Auezov, Mukhtar Omarkhanovich - playwright, for the epic “Abai’s Path”.

1. Rylsky, Maxim Faddeevich - for the poetry collections “Distant Skies” (1959) and “Roses and Grapes” (1957)
2. Tursun-Zade, Mirzo - for the poems “Hasan-arbakesh” (1954), “Moonlight” (1957) and the cycle of poems “Voice of Asia” (1956)
3. Sholokhov, Mikhail Alexandrovich - for the novel “Virgin Soil Upturned” (1932-1960)

* Smuul, Juhan - writer, for the book “The Ice Book”.
* Stelmakh, Mikhail Afanasyevich - writer, for the novels “Human Blood is Not Water,” “Big Relatives,” “Bread and Salt.”
* Tvardovsky, Alexander Trifonovich - poet, for the poem “Beyond the Distance - Distance.”

* Petrus Brovka - Belarusian writer, poet, for the collection “And the days go by...”.
* Chukovsky, Korney Ivanovich - writer, for the book “Nekrasov’s Mastery”.

* Marshak, Samuil Yakovlevich - poet, for the book of poems “Selected Lyrics”.

* Gonchar, Oles (Alexander Terentyevich) - writer, for the novel “Tronka”.
* Shabliovsky, Evgeniy Stepanovich - literary critic, for the book “T. G. Shevchenko and Russian revolutionary democrats. 1858—1861"

* Svetlov, Mikhail Arkadyevich (posthumously) - poet, playwright.

* Gafur Gulyam (posthumously) - poet.
* Mikhalkov, Sergei Vladimirovich - writer.

1. Melezh, Ivan Pavlovich - for the novels “People in the Swamp” (1961) and “Breath of a Thunderstorm” (1965)
2. Shaginyan, Marietta Sergeevna - for books about V.I. Lenin: “The Birth of a Son” (“The Ulyanov Family”) (1938, 1957), “The First All-Russian” (1965), “Ticket for History” (1937), “ Four lessons from Lenin" (1968)
3. Barto, Agniya Lvovna - for the book of poems “For Flowers in the Winter Forest” (1970). (Award for works of literature and art for children)

1. Simonov, Konstantin (Kirill) Mikhailovich - for the trilogy “The Living and the Dead” (“The Living and the Dead” (1955-1959), “They are not born soldiers” (1960-1964), “ Last summer"(1965-1970))

1. Avijus, Jonas Kazys - for the novel “Lost Blood” (1970)
2. Markov, Georgy Mokeevich - for the novel “Siberia” (1969-1973)

Maxim Tank (Skurko Evgeniy Ivanovich) - for the book of poems “Narochansky Pines” (1977)
. Chakovsky, Alexander Borisovich - for the novel “Blockade” (1968-1975)

* Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, - for the trilogy “Little Earth”, “Renaissance” and “Virgin Land”, “for the tireless struggle for peace”

1. Dumbadze, Nodar Vladimirovich - for the novel “The Law of Eternity” (1978)
2. Isaev, Egor Aleksandrovich - for the poetic duology “The Court of Memory” (1962), “The Distance of Memory” (1976-1977)

1. Bazhan Mikola (Nikolai Platonovich) - for the book of poems “Signs” (1979)

1. Karim, Mustai (Karimov Mustafa Safich) - for the story " Long, long childhood"(1974-1978) and the tragedy "Don't Throw Fire, Prometheus!" (1976)

1. Bykov, Vasily Vladimirovich - for the story “Sign of Trouble” (1982)
2. Vasiliev, Ivan Afanasyevich - for the book of essays “Admission to the Initiative” (1983), essays “Praise to your home”, “Return to the land” (1984), “Letters from the village”. (Award for works of artistic journalism)

1. Kuliev, Kaisyn Shuvaevich (posthumously) - for outstanding contribution V Soviet literature, artistic originality and development folk traditions in the spiritual life of socialist society

Sixty years ago, on August 15, 1956, the main prize of the Soviet Union was established.

TASS photo chronicle/Sergey Loskutov

The attitude towards awards of various ranks in Russia, and, perhaps, everywhere in the world, is not distinguished only by enthusiasm and rapture. There are always those who believe that this or that prize was awarded to such and such undeservedly. However, as they say knowledgeable people, bonus commissions at all ends of the planet, as a rule, albeit latently, try to maintain a certain balance of interests.

Main Prize of the Union of Soviets Socialist Republics established 60 years ago, on August 15, 1956. Although it would be more correct to say: they did not establish, but restored (or reanimated), because the Lenin Prize was introduced in the first world state of workers and peasants on June 23, 1925 by a joint resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. At that time, it was a real breakthrough, because just a year or two ago, prestigious rewards were considered to be a piece of cloth, calico or staple (in the Red Army - red revolutionary trousers), boots and other everyday items.

For the first time in the history of the Soviet country, the Lenin Prize became the highest sign of distinction, because by that time it, of all state awards There was only one - the Order of the Red Banner.

The Lenin Prize of 1925, in addition to honor and respect, provided for a monetary reward. Its amount in different documents is different: from two to five thousand rubles. Apparently, there was no fixed official amount of monetary “capacity” for the title of laureate.

The money at that time was not big, but very big, especially if you consider that the average salary in the USSR in 1925 was 46.4 rubles, in 1926 - 52.5, in 1927 - 56 rubles per month.

Prices for the basic set of consumption of a citizen of the country building socialism were not low.

How much did it cost (price per kilogram):

  • 20 kopecks – bread;
  • 6 kopecks – rye flour;
  • 30 kopecks – pearl barley;
  • 45 kopecks – herring;
  • 1 ruble 56 kopecks – melted butter;
  • 85 kopecks – boiled sausage;
  • 3 rubles 20 kopecks – tea in a brick (exclusive know-how of the Soviet Food Industry– pressed waste from tea-packing industries).
  • In addition to the certificate and financial support, the Lenin Prize laureate, at his request, was allocated a plot of land in the near Moscow region, on which he could build a country house at his own expense.

    Particular attention should be paid to the motivational formulation of the first Lenin Prizes. The Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks states that they are awarded only for scientific works and "in order to encourage scientific activity in the direction closest to the ideas of V.I. Lenin, namely in the direction close connection science and life."

    They decided to name the laureates on the birthday of leader Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin) - on April 22 of each year.

    Photo: TASS Photo Chronicle/Vladimir Musaelyan

    First prize winners in 1926:

  • Nikolai Vavilov is one of the founders of the Russian school of genetics and plant breeding. In the late 1930s, when genetics was recognized as a pseudoscience, he was thrown into the dungeons of the Lubyanka, where he was severely beaten, his fingers were broken, and then sentenced to death. This measure was later replaced by a twenty-year prison term. Nikolai Vavilov died (according to other sources, beaten to death by guards) in prison on January 23, 1943. And he was completely rehabilitated only in 1955.
  • Nikolay Kravkov is one of the founders national school pharmacology, whom the then prize committee considered it necessary to award posthumously, rightly considering that his works in the field medicines fundamental and eternal.
  • Academician Vladimir Obruchev– awarded a prize for his work in geology and geographical research.
  • Dmitry Pryanishnikov– for works in the field of agricultural sciences and agricultural chemistry.
  • Alexey Chichibabin– it is to this scientist that the world owes the synthesis of alkaloids, as a result of which the production of morphine and codeine, now prohibited pharmacological drugs, began. Morphine has long been used as a potent drug to alleviate the suffering of cancer and trauma patients, and codeine was part of effective medicines, helping to cure severe forms of pneumonia and other diseases of the upper respiratory tract. Chichibabin is also the author of the technology for the production of aspirin and all other components of salicylic acid.
  • Among the most notable laureates of the award. Lenin of other years Vladimir Vorobyov, known in scientific community anatomist. Thus, in 1927, his work on embalming the body of the leader of the revolution, Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), was appreciated. Vorobyov’s technologies for preserving mummy are still used today.

    In the same year, academician David Ryazanov (Goldendach) became a Lenin laureate for preparing for publication the collected works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Professional revolutionary who went through “school” since 1891 royal prisons and references, he became a major scientist, one of the founders of the national school of source studies. But by the mid-1930s, both Marxism and Leninism and, especially, the principles of democratic centralism greatly irritated Stalin. And the Lenin laureate academician, ex-director of the Union Institute of Marxism-Leninism, was shot on January 21, 1938.

    In 1929, the prize named after. Lenin was received by the famous engineer Vladimir Shukhov, the author of the television and radio broadcast tower on Shabolovka, one of the iconic buildings of Moscow. There are similar openwork hyperboloid tower structures in Petushki Vladimir region and Krasnodar. And the tower in the Nizhny Novgorod region was recently restored and taken under federal protection of architectural monuments. The famous designer and inventor made an invaluable contribution to the development of domestic oil pipelines, the construction of oil refineries, the first Soviet crackers and oil storage facilities.

    In 1931, the prize named after. The father of the Soviet oil industry, the developer of the system of oil and gas fields in the territories of the RSFSR (the “second Baku”), Ivan Gubkin, also received Lenin, whose phrase: “The subsoil will not fail if the people do not fail” became the motto of the developers of energy raw material deposits in the Fatherland for many years.

    The last time the “first wave” Lenin Prizes were awarded was in 1934. And all for his work in the field of Marxism-Leninism. Marxist economist Evgeniy Varga received it for his book “New Phenomena in the Global economic crisis", historian Lev Mendelson - for the work "Imperialism, as the highest stage of capitalism", historian Evgenia Stepanova - for the book "Friedrich Engels". By the way, Varga, the only one of the entire galaxy of laureates received the Lenin Prize twice - the first time in 1925, the second - 1957 of the year.

    For 22 years, from 1935 to 1957, the country refused the Lenin Prizes. They were replaced in 1941–1952 Stalin Prizes three degrees. The decision about who and for what to award them was made personally by Comrade Stalin. The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR decided to restore the Lenin Prizes and name their laureates exclusively by April 22, issuing a corresponding joint resolution on August 15, 1956. But, as usual, in the year of adoption of the fundamental document, they themselves violated it. And on September 7 of the same 1956, the first Lenin Prize laureates after a long break appeared.

    Photo: TASS photo chronicle/Vladimir Savostyanov

    Why were the Lenin Prizes of the second wave awarded:

  • outstanding scientific works;
  • architectural and technical structures;
  • inventions introduced into the national economy, technological processes;
  • outstanding works of literature and art.
  • In March 1960, journalism and journalism were added to this “price list”. In 1970, the provisions on the Lenin Prizes were supplemented with a paragraph “for outstanding works of literature and art for children.”

    At first, the Lenin Prizes were awarded annually, but since 1967, “sequestration” was introduced and the laureates began to be named once every two years, in even (naturally, the title is honorable) years.

    But often they deviated from the introduced rule. The general public did not know about this, because the resolutions adopted “outside the rules” contained the names of laureates from the “secret”: defense, space, nuclear, electronics and aviation industries. In 1957, the regulations provided for 42, but since 1961, 76 Lenin Prizes annually.

    However, in 1967, the number of awards was again reduced to 25. The explanation for this is simple. It was this year that the party and government decided to introduce an additional bonus - the State Prize. By the way, according to the statute and the benefits provided, it was immediately equated to the Stalin Prize, which was removed from the field of the country’s awards.

    Lenin Prize laureates received a diploma, a gold medal and a cash prize. At first 100 thousand, and after the denomination of 1961 - 10 thousand rubles. The established USSR State Prize was considered less prestigious and its monetary value was half as much: 5 thousand rubles.

    The least fortunate in terms of the monetary component were the laureates – the “listed” ones. Sometimes there were 15 or 18 people for one award. As they say, there is nothing to divide. And, as a rule, the amount due for the titles was immediately transferred either to the Soviet Peace Fund. Or to the Soviet Children's Fund. At the same time, an accounting “ritual” was mandatory. Each of the awardees wrote a handwritten statement with a request to transfer their part of the bonus to the organization they chose.

    What could you buy with the Lenin Prize after the 1961 redenomination (10 thousand rubles):


  • at least 10 thousand full meals (first, second, third, sweet bun and compote) lunches in canteens. The cost of such a lunch is no more than a ruble;
  • approximately 3,480 bottles of “liquid currency” - bottles of Moskovskaya vodka at 2.87;
  • 50 thousand bottles of Sayany lemonade – each for 20 kopecks;
  • Visit a men's hairdressing salon 50 thousand times, 20 kopecks - average price one haircut;
  • 40 thousand 900 gram loaves of rye bread - 25 kopecks each;
  • more than 11 thousand zinc buckets - 90 kopecks per container;
  • at least two one-room or one two-room, or even three-room apartments in a housing cooperative (housing and construction cooperative) at the foundation stage in residential areas of Moscow. average cost“odnushki” – 4 thousand rubles;
  • almost two GAZ 21 Volga cars - 5,600 each;
  • 20 two-chamber refrigerators "Minsk" - cost 500 rubles per product;
  • 13 Rubin color TVs – 720 rubles each.
  • Nuclear physicists

    The first laureates of the Lenin Prize of the “second wave” were nuclear physicists Igor Kurchatov, Yakov Zeldovich, Andrei Sakharov, Yuliy Khariton. Resolution on awarding them main prize countries was published behind closed doors (not published anywhere) on September 7, 1956. Contrary to the approved position: to award prizes by April 22, Lenin’s birthday. At that time, these people, who forever glorified the Fatherland and world science. About them new award, and almost all of them were three times Heroes by that time socialist labor, had not a single order, no one would have known anyway.

    True, in the resolution dated April 22, 1957, which published the names of the very first prize winners, their names were listed in general list, they themselves are simply named: nuclear physicists. Most likely, this was a forced repetition in order to comply with the established statute of the award.

    But Lenin laureates No. 1 remains precisely this “quartet” of world-class nuclear scientists. "Father" of the Soviet atomic bomb Three and a half years after the prize was awarded, Igor Kurchatov died on February 7, 1960 at the age of 57 in front of his colleague and friend Yuli Khariton, talking with him on a bench at the Barvikha sanatorium, where he had come to stay. Suddenly the heart stopped, an embolism, a blood clot clogged the heart muscle.

    Photo chronicle TASS/Vladimir Peslyak

    "Father" of the first in the world hydrogen bomb Andrei Sakharov, two years after he was awarded the Lenin Prize, initiated a campaign to ban the testing of nuclear weapons in three environments - on land, in the air and in water. In 1961, he entered into a sharp confrontation with the then leader of the USSR Nikita Khrushchev, trying to stop the testing of his own brainchild - the Tsar Bomba, with a yield of 100 megatons over the archipelago New Earth in the Arctic. In the same year, he made a proposal: no longer serve the arms race imposed on the USSR by the Americans, but simply place (the academician attached a diagram to his project) along the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans USA "chain" of nuclear charges of 100 megatons each. And in the event of enemy aggression, simply “press the buttons.” The project is, in essence, draconian, really putting the world on the brink of nuclear self-destruction.

    Three years after the Lenin Prize, Sakharov joined the country's human rights movement, for which from the late 1960s he began to be subjected to organized persecution, and in 1980, after publicly condemning the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he was deprived of all awards, titles, prizes and exiled to Gorky, which was then a closed city. A story immediately spread among the people: the city of Gorky was sweetened. Everything, including his good name, returned to the academician with perestroika, in 1989, which became his last.

    Yakov Zeldovich, having made invaluable discoveries that made it possible to improve the Soviet nuclear weapon, V last years During his life he was effectively engaged in cosmology, writing fundamental monographs “The Theory of Gravitation and the Evolution of Stars” and “Structure and Evolution of the Universe”. He also went down in history as a popularizer of higher mathematics. His book " Higher mathematics for beginners and its applications to physics" went through countless editions. Julius Khariton lived until the end of his days in the Arzamas-16 nuclear center, now the city of Sarov, where he continued to work on the country's nuclear programs and died at the age of 92.

    The resolution on the first “legal” Lenin Prize, published on April 22, 1957, is mainly a list of laureates who are awarded the title for the same achievement. In particular, the “list” includes the famous aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev, who, together with his colleagues at the design bureau, was awarded the prize for creating the first Soviet jet passenger aircraft, the Tu-104. Later, on the sidelines, to the tune of Chopin’s march, they will begin to sing: “Tu-104, the best plane...”, but for now it is the first in the world of its class and has not yet been banned from flying due to numerous disasters with hundreds of casualties. Also mentioned on the list is Sergei Korolev, the “father” of the Soviet space technology.

    The single laureates were, in particular, academician Mstislav Keldysh - for developments in the field of rocket and nuclear technology, Pavel Agadzhanov, one of the creators of the first Soviet systems radio control aircraft spacecraft And software Computers (electronic computers), test pilot Alexey Perelet, who tested the first Soviet missile carriers long-range aviation Tu-95, which are still in service today. According to the category of science, among the laureates, in particular, there are two philologists - one was awarded for the “unsolvability of the problem of the identity of groups of words”, the other for the study of morphemes in the Old French language. There is also one researcher ancient world peoples of Transcaucasia, one specialist in the field of animal and human trematodes, one expert in protistology.

    Notable in the first resolution on the Lenin Prizes of the “second wave” was the famous Russian surgeon Alexander Bakulev. He was “let in” under the “technician” category, but the award was formulated as follows: “for organizing scientific research acquired and congenital diseases of the heart and great vessels, the development of surgical treatment methods and their implementation in the practice of medical institutions."

    A notable feature of the first resolution on the Lenin Prize laureates on April 22, 1957 was the awarding of groups of production teams, which included representatives of the working class. In this “segment” are the miners of one of the mines in Donbass, the creators of the nuclear power plant in Obninsk, the first in the country. Also noted were the organizers of the first automatic production of mass bearings, new technological lines for the production of alumina and cement, geologists who discovered a countless (which is still confirmed) diamond deposits in Yakutia.

    The most noticeable and most discussed in society has always been the section: “Literature and Art”. The first laureates of the Lenin Prize in this field were the sculptor Sergei Konenkov, ballerina Galina Ulanova, writer Leonid Leonov, poet Mussa Jalil and composer Sergei Prokofiev. The last two received high ranks posthumously.

    On April 22, 1991, the Lenin Prize was awarded for the last time. Four people received it individually and the same number received it as a list. Almost all of them represented the military-industrial complex. The exception is the living Sergei Arzhakov, a specialist in varnishes, paints and polymers. And to some extent, the Ukrainian design engineer Vladimir Sichevoy, who was involved in the construction of space technology in Dnepropetrovsk.

    TASS photo chronicle/Viktor Budan, Alexander Konkov

    The remaining laureates received the Lenin Prize for the creation of binary chemical weapons, and chemist S.V. Smirnov, as stated in the resolution, “new chemical weapons (non-lethal).”

    It is impossible to talk about all the Lenin Prize laureates. It is not easy to “snatch” the most famous ones from among them. Moreover, the motivation for the award high ranks Since about 1970 it has become little understood. And in a number of cases, the resolutions simply stopped indicating why the bonus was given. This was especially true for senior military and government officials. For example, in the documents: for 1973 there is Sergey Aleksandrovich Afanasyev, Minister of General Engineering of the USSR, for 1980 - Rashidov Sharaf Rashidovich, 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Uzbekistan, for 1981 Andrey Ivanovich Belov, Marshal of the Signal Corps. And there are dozens of such laureates. What is the country's main award for? Apparently, for being a minister, a party functionary, a marshal. Probably, it was precisely this devaluation of the title of laureate that gave rise in the Soviet environment to stories like: “KGB Chairman Yuri Andropov was nominated for the Lenin Prize for proving that knocking travels faster than sound.”

    And yet, there were significantly more people who were awarded the main USSR prize for real achievements, outside of market trends, those whom the whole world knows. This is the ballerina Maya Plisetskaya, and the musician Mstislav Rostropovich, and the journalist Vasily Peskov, and the director Tengiz Abuladze, and the writer Vasil Bykov, and the actor Mikhail Ulyanov, and the composer Rodion Shchedrin, and the aircraft designer Pavel Sukhoi. Among the galaxy of people who glorified the country, there are many who were “overtaken” by the Lenin Prize after death. This is the poet Mikhail Svetlov, prose writer, actor and director Vasily Shukshin, film director Andrei Tarkovsky.

    For peace

    There was another Lenin Prize. It was introduced on September 6, 1956 and was called the International Lenin Prize "For Strengthening Peace Between Nations" (since December 11, 1989 - simply the International Lenin Peace Prize). It was awarded first once a year, and later - once every two years exclusively foreign citizens. True, in the list of the very first laureates, this status was violated several times. Together with the figures of science, culture, art from different countries it was awarded to the functionary of the USSR Writers' Union, poet Nikolai Tikhonov. “The authorities didn’t raise their hand for creativity, but as a fighter for peace, please do,” his colleagues in the shop quipped. In 1959, the prize was given to then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. For the third time, the award was received by the Soviet playwright Alexander Korneychuk, for the same motivation as the poet Tikhonov. For the fourth time in 1973, she was given to Leonid Brezhnev.

    The status of the international Lenin Peace Prize was no longer violated. Among its laureates were such world-famous personalities as the permanent Cuban leader Fidel Castro, the American artist Rockwell Kent, Chilean President Salvador Allende, who died during the putsch, African-American human rights activist Angela Davis, Indian Prime Minister and reformer Indira Gandhi, and Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. The last laureate of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1990 was the famous anti-apartheid fighter Nelson Mandela, who overturned the centuries-old system in South Africa.

    Evgeny Kuznetsov

    The Lenin Prizes were restored, and in fact re-established. Until the appearance of the State ones, they will replace the Stalinist ones, and then they will become the highest awards, the “Soviet Nobel Prizes”

    After Lenin's death, the prize named after him did not exist for long as an academic one and was awarded to major scientists: Vavilov, Obruchev, Fersman, Chichibabin. In the 1930s, they tried to turn the Lenin Prize into a super award, awarded every five years with a gold medal and honorary membership in the Academy of Sciences, but it did not work out. But on Stalin’s 60th birthday (1939), Stalin Prizes began to be generously given. The award had three degrees, so the awards varied, and there were multiple winners.

    Condemning the personality cult of Stalin, the current government cannot continue to award Stalin Prizes. The Central Committee of the CPSU and the government decide: annually on April 22 to award 42 Lenin Prizes, without degrees. This is much less than the almost countless Stalin awards, but the habit of awarding is great, and the number of awards will increase to 76 per year. They don’t remember the previous laureates at all - as if they never happened, they are not indicated in the lists of regalia. Only in 1966 will they find a way out: they will introduce State Prizes, and all those issued by Stalin will be recognized by them, exchanging diplomas and badges. “The Empress” will become relatively accessible, and from now on there are only 30 Leninsky ones, and they are given every two years, in even-numbered years.

    A rarer award than the title of Hero of Socialist Labor should be given to great discoveries and masterpieces. The general public understands little about science and technology, but in culture such a laureate means the status of a living Soviet classic. The reputation of the Lenin Prize will be significantly spoiled by its award in literature to the books of Leonid Brezhnev, moreover, made in the odd year of 1979.

    Phenomena mentioned in the text

    XX Congress. Khrushchev's report 1956

    At a closed meeting of the next congress of the CPSU, First Secretary of the Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev makes a report “On the cult of personality and its consequences.” They don’t dare publish the text, but they read it aloud all over the country. The semi-secret report determines the content of the entire 10-year Khrushchev rule - it will go down in history as anti-Stalin