Nadezhda Grigoryevna Grekova ( be, Надзея Рыгораўна Грэкава; 17 September 1910 – 6 January 2001) 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, ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She was Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the

Belorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

1938–1949. Her office as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet nominally made her Head of the Republic. At some point she was known as the "Iron Lady".

Life

Grekova started to work in a textile factory in Minsk in 1922, at the age of twelve. In 1932, she became a member of the

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

, was elected chairperson of the local workers union in 1933. In 1937, at the age of twenty-seven, she was elected Deputy, and then Head of the Industrial and Transport Department of the Central Committee, and 3rd Secretary of the Central Committee of the

Communist Party of Byelorussia The Communist Party of Byelorussia (CPB; russian: Коммунистическая партия Белоруссии; be, Камуністычная партыя Беларусі) was the ruling communist party of the Byelorussian Soviet Social ...

. She held these positions until 1940. From 25 July 1938 until 12 March 1949 she held the post of Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the

, one of the first women to hold such a position. She was only twenty-eight when elected to the position, making her one of the youngest female heads of state, as the position was the highest organ of state authority. This also made her Head of the Republic. The post was created after a re-organization of the system, and she was the first person elected to it. At the time, she had not yet completed her secondary education. During the

Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany German invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 led to the military occupation of Byelorussia until August 1944 with the Soviet Operation Bagration. The western parts of Byelorussia became part of the Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, and ...

, she was evacuated to

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

. While in Kazan, she could not perform her duties as Chairman of The Supreme Soviet, but was elected as Secretary 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 ...

in 1942–43. She was in Kazan from 28 June 1941 to 3 July 1944, and during this, while serving as Secretary of the Kazan CPSU, she was also Secretary of the Kazan City Committee of The

. While there, she graduated from the Higher School of Party Organizers, under the Central Committee of the CPSU, completing her educational studies. Nadezhda Grekova was a member of the

Central Auditing Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Central Auditing Commission (CAC), (russian: Центральная ревизионная комиссия КПСС), Centralnaya revizionnaya komissiya) was a supervisory organ within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Similar organs exist ...

1939–52, Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1943–46. Deputy Minister of Food Industry of the

Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

1949–52, in addition, she was Minister of Food Industry of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. From 1946 to 1955, she was a member of the Supreme Soviet of The Soviet Union. She was awarded two Orders of Lenin, Order of the Patriotic War, First Class, Order of the Red Banner, the Order of the Badge of Honor and other medals. In her private life, she was married to general

Mikhail Malinin Mikhail Sergeevich Malinin (russian: Михаи́л Серге́евич Мали́нин; in Polutino, Kostroma Governorate, Russian Empire – 24 January 1960 in Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Soviet general. Biography Early years Mikhail M ...

. It is alleged that the two of them were introduces to one another by

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 ...

Legacy

In 2002, a park in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

was named after her. As well, there is a museum dedicated to her.

References

* http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/womeninpower/Womeninpower1900.htm * http://knowbysight.info/GGG/02192.asp * "Белорусская ССР – краткая энциклопедия", T. 5, "Биографический справочник", Минск 1982 * http://history.museum.by/be/node/14243 * https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=be&u=http://www.nv-online.info/by/108/80/20340/%25E2%2580%259C%25D0%2596%25D0%25B0%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B5%25D0%25B7%25D0%25BD%25D0%25B0%25D1%258F-%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B5%25D0%25B4%25D0%25B7%25D1%2596%25E2%2580%259D-%25D0%259D%25D0%25B0%25D0%25B4%25D0%25B7%25D0%25B5%25D1%258F-%25D0%2593%25D1%2580%25D1%258D%25D0%25BA%25D0%25B0%25D0%25B2%25D0%25B0.htm&prev=search

External link

* 1910 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Belarusian women politicians 20th-century Belarusian politicians Politicians from Minsk People from Minsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Second convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia People's commissars and ministers of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR (1938–1946) Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Female heads of government Soviet women in politics {{Belarus-politician-stub