Alexandra Vasilevna Artyukhina (Russian: Александра Васильевна Артюхина; 6 November 1889 – 7 April 1969) was an early Russian

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

and revolutionary who rose to sit on the

Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee The Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was responsible for managing and directing the day-to-day operations of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, while the Politburo was charged with the p ...

, but was brought down by

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

purges In history, religion and political science, a purge is a position removal or execution of people who are considered undesirable by those in power from a government, another organization, their team leaders, or society as a whole. A group undertak ...

in the late 1930s.

Life and career

The child of textile workers, Artyukhina was born at

Vyshny Volochyok Vyshny VolochyokThe more-regular spelling Vyshny Volochok ( rus, Вы́шний Волочо́к)—with instead of after an unpaired " hush consonant"—is seen but is not official; the two spellings are pronounced the same in Russian. ( rus, ...

. She became a dressmaker's apprentice at age ten and a mill worker by 17. She joined the Communist labor movement in Russia, and was forced into exile at age 20 - probably in 1909. After three years, she returned to Russia and resumed her work, both in textiles and in union organizing. She was active during the Revolution and rose through the ranks to sit as an alternate member on the

from 1926 to 1930. She was also the last head of

Zhenotdel The Zhenotdel (), the women's department of the Central Committee of the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), was the section of the Russian Communist party devoted to women's affairs in the 1920s. It gave women in the Russian Revolution ...

. On March 1, 1931, international journalists noticed Artukhina as the first woman to sit on the Soviet Supreme Court. She assumed leadership of the Cotton Textile Workers Union when a Commissar of light industry, Isadore Lubimoff, was removed. A collective farm was named for her. Her industry fell 11% short of its production goal for the first quarter of 1938. Artukhina and her subordinates were charged with allowing anti-Soviet wreckers to spread their corruption. She was accused of approving the same quotas for different machines, allowing the neglect of machines, and unnecessarily complicated paperwork. After Stalin's death Artyukhina was rehabilitated. She was named a

Hero of Socialist Labor The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

in 1960, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of International Women's Day, and lies buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery.

Honours and awards

* Hero of Socialist Labour (7 March 1960) * Three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

References

The information in this article came from ''New York Times'' articles dated March 2, 1931 and May 23, 1938. The latter refers to the Soviet workers' newspaper '' Trud'' as its source.

Bibliography

* Scheide, Carmen: "'Born in October': The Life and Thought of Aleksandra Vasilevna Artyukhina, 1889−1969", in: Ilic, Melanie: ''Women in the Stalin Era'', Houndmills 2001, pages 9-28.

External links

Biography and photograph
{{DEFAULTSORT:Artukhina, Aleksandra 1889 births 1969 deaths People from Vyshny Volochyok People from Vyshnevolotsky Uyezd Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Old Bolsheviks Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Textile workers Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Female revolutionaries