Alexey Grigoryevich Stakhanov ( rus, Алексе́й Григо́рьевич Стаха́нов, p=staˈxanəf; 3 January 1906 – 5 November 1977) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

miner A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

Hero of Socialist Labour 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 ...

(1970), and a member of the

CPSU "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

(1936). He became a celebrity in 1935 as part of what became known as the

Stakhanovite movement The term Stakhanovite () originated in the Soviet Union and referred to workers who modeled themselves after Alexey Stakhanov. These workers took pride in their ability to produce more than was required, by working harder and more efficiently, thu ...

– a campaign intended to increase worker productivity and to demonstrate the superiority of the socialist economic system.

Biography

Stakhanov was born in Lugovaya (now in

Izmalkovsky District Izmalkovsky District (russian: Изма́лковский райо́н) is an administrativeLaw #382-OZ and municipalLaw #114-OZ district (raion), one of the eighteen in Lipetsk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast. The area of ...

), a village in the

Livensky Uyezd Livensky (russian: Ливенский; masculine), Livenskaya (; feminine), or Livenskoye (; neuter) is the name of several rural localities in Russia: * Livenskoye, Kaliningrad Oblast, a settlement in Alexeyevsky Rural Okrug of Krasnoznamensky ...

of the

Oryol Governorate Oryol Governorate (russian: Орловская губерния, ''Orlovskaya guberniya'') or the Government of Oryol, was an administrative division (a ''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the early Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 19 ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in 1906. He began working in a mine called "Tsentralnaya-Irmino" (literally Central Irmino) in

Kadiivka Kadiivka (), or Stakhanov (; ), is a city in the Luhansk Oblast (region) of eastern Ukraine occupied by Russia. The city is incorporated as a city of oblast significance. Its population is approximately . The city has been under the control of th ...

( Donbas). In 1933, Stakhanov became a

jackhammer A jackhammer (pneumatic drill or demolition hammer in British English) is a pneumatic or electro-mechanical tool that combines a hammer directly with a chisel. It was invented by William Mcreavy, who then sold the patent to Charles Brady Kin ...

operator. In 1935, he took a local course in mining. On 31 August 1935, it was reported that he had mined a record 102 tonnes of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

in 5 hours and 45 minutes (14 times his quota). On 19 September, Stakhanov was reported to have set a new record by mining 227 tonnes of coal in a single shift. His example was held up in newspapers and posters as a model for others to follow, and he appeared on the cover of ''Time'' magazine in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1936–1941, Stakhanov was a student of the Industrial Academy in Moscow. In 1941–1942, he was appointed director of mine No. 31 in

Karaganda Karaganda or Qaraghandy ( kk, Қарағанды/Qarağandy, ; russian: Караганда, ) is the capital of Karaganda Region in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, fourth most populous city in Kaza ...

. Between 1943 and 1957, Stakhanov worked in the Ministry of Coal Industry of the USSR. In 1957–1959, he was deputy director of the ''Chistyakovantratsit'' trust, and after that, assistant chief engineer at the mine management office No. 2/43 of the ''Torezantratsit'' trust until his retirement in 1974. Stakhanov was a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union of the first convocation. He was awarded two

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 ...

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

, and numerous medals. The last Sunday of August was designated "Coal Miner's Day", also apparently in his honor. The town of Kadiivka in eastern

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

where he started his work was renamed Stakhanov in his honour in 1978, after his death. At some point Stakhanov developed problems with alcohol and came to lose his Order of Lenin and party card (rewards for his feat) during a drunken brawl.

Stakhanovite movement

Stakhanov's records set an example throughout the country and gave birth to the

, where workers who exceeded production targets could become "Stakhanovites".

Record disputed

The validity of Stakhanov's record has been called into question. In 1985, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' printed a story alleging that though Stakhanov had indeed succeeded in his feat, it was only because the Communist Party had arranged the event as a way of boosting public morale, with many other miners working to help Stakhanov beat the mining record. The ''Times'' quoted the chief of the Tsentralnaya-Irmino mine branch of the Party, Konstantin G. Petrov, as saying that "I suppose Stakhanov need not have been the first... It could have been anybody else. In the final analysis, it was not the individual face-worker who determined whether the attempt to break the record would succeed, but the new system of coal extraction." Alexey Stakhanov

In 1988, the Soviet newspaper ''

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (russian: link=no, Комсомольская правда; lit. "Komsomol Truth") is a daily Russian tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper, founded on 13 March 1925. History and profile During the Soviet era, ...

'' claimed that the widely cited achievements of Stakhanov were puffery. The paper insisted that Stakhanov had used a number of helpers on support works, while the throughput was tallied for him alone. Still, according to the newspaper, Stakhanov's approach had eventually led to increased productivity by means of better work organization, including specialization and task sequencing. It has also been claimed that his record was beaten by

Alija Sirotanović Alija Sirotanović (14 August 1914 – 16 May 1990) was a Yugoslav miner, Hero of Socialist Labour and perhaps the most famous of all Yugoslav udarniks. He was held up by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia to be a model of a hard-worker in the ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

and Sergej Scemuk of

Personal life

According to a widespread story, Stakhanov was given the name Andrei at birth, but the telegram reporting his record only contained his initial, and the editors of ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

'' reported his name as Alexey. Rather than admit such a high-profile mistake, authorities decided to replace his passport and other official documents, changing his name to Alexey. However, his daughter dismissed this as false in a 2012 interview, stating that she had never heard any family members ever call her father Andrei, nor did the name run in the family. Stakhanov had two partners and six children.Pustovoytov, S.
Uncovered biography of Stakhanov: 14-year old spouse and homeless style of living
'. Ukrainian initiatives support. 4 August 2011

Legacy

* From 1938 to 1947, the city of Zhukovsky, Russia was named Stakhanovo. * From 15 February 1978 to 12 May 2016, the Ukrainian city of Kadiivka was named Stakhanov. *

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

's novel, ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to crea ...

'', represents him as the character of

Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

Notes