Valentina Semyonovna Khetagurova (russian: Валентина Семёновна Хетагурова; 19141992), was a founder of the Khetagurova movement (Khetagurovite Campaign), a member of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

for the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admini ...

Biography

Valentina Zarubina was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

in 1914. When she was seventeen, in 1932, she enlisted to work on the

De-Kastri De-Kastri (russian: Де-Ка́стри) is a rural locality (a settlement) in Ulchsky District of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia. Population: Etymology The settlement's name is the Russian phonetic transliteration of the name of the Marquis de Castri ...

Fortified district A fortified district or fortified region (russian: Укреплённый район, Укрепрайон, ukreplyonny raion, ukrepraion) in the military terminology of the Soviet Union, is a territory within which a complex system of defense fo ...

in the Far Eastern Federal District where she worked as a draughtsman. There, she became the leader of the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

cell and became involved in the fight against illiteracy and in organizing the weekly day off. Working with the women in the cell, she helped to improve the daily life including the soldier's food and arranging leisure activities. In 1936, for her work in Siberia she was awarded with the

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 ...

. She was awarded a gold watch by

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (, uk, Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, ''Klyment Okhrimovyč Vorošylov''), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (russian: link=no, Клим Вороши́лов, ''Klim Vorošilov''; 4 Februa ...

, the People's Commissioner for Defense of the USSR. The following year she was elected to the

Khetagurovite Campaign

Khetagurova wrote a letter to the 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, ...

calling for women to volunteer to work in the Far East. During the construction of

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur Rive ...

the population included 6,000 male workers for every 30 women. When it was completed there were 300 men to every 3 women. Thousands of women responded to Khetagurova's call and the movement was known as Хетагуровское движение (Khetagourovskoe dviznenie, Khetagurovite Campaign), the members of the movement were known as khetagourovki (khetagurovites). By the autumn of 1937 11,500 women arrived in the Far East.

Personal life

Khetagurova married the commander of the Red Army

Georgy Khetagurov Georgy Ivanovich Khetagurov (; – 3 September 1975) was an Ossetian army general of the Soviet Army and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Early life and Russian Civil War Khetagurov was born on 25 April 1903 in the village of Tsmi, Terek Oblast. ...

. Khetagurova died in 1992. She is buried in Moscow in the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...

Legacy

In 1937 Yevgeny Petrov wrote ''Young Patriots'', devoted to Khetagurova and the movement she organized.

Isaak Dunayevsky Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky (russian: Исаак Осипович Дунаевский ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for operett ...

wrote a song dedicated to the Khetagurova movement and movement appears in a poem by

Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky Yevgeny Aronovich Dolmatovsky (; 5 May 1915 – 10 September 1994) was a Soviet and Russian poet and lyricist. He was born and died in Moscow. Examples of his songs * Ballad of the Siberian Land (music by Nikolai Kryukov) - 1947 :The theme son ...

. A street in the town of Komsomolsk-on-Amur bears her name.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khetagurova, Valentina 1914 births 1992 deaths Politicians from Saint Petersburg Soviet women