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