Valeriya Alexeyevna Golubtsova (15 May 1901 in
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət ), colloquially shortened to Nizhny, from the 13th to the 17th century Novgorod of the Lower Land, formerly known as Gork ...
— 1 October 1987 in
Моscow) was a scientist who was the director of the
Moscow Power Engineering Institute
National Research University "Moscow Power Engineering Institute" (MPEI) is a public university based in Moscow, Russia. It offers training in the fields of Power Engineering, Electric Engineering, Radio Engineering, Electronics, Information Tec ...
from 1943 to 1952. She was the wife of
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov ( – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician who briefly succeeded Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union. However, at the insistence of the rest of the Presidium, he relinquished control over the par ...
.
Biography
Golubtsova was born in Nizhny Novgorod in the family of a teacher in the cadet corps, State Councilor Alexei Golubtsov (1852–1924), and Olga Nevzorova, who was a member of an old noble family. Nevzorova's older sisters were the famous "Nevzorov sisters" (Zinaida, Sophia, and Augustine) —
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's comrades-in-arms in Marxist circles back in the 1890s. Zinaida married
Gleb Кrzhizhanovky in 1899, who in the 1920s headed the
GOELRO Commission.
The Golubtsov family raised five children: Lyudmila, Valeriya, Roman,
Vyacheslav Vyacheslav, also transliterated Viacheslav or Viatcheslav (russian: Вячеслав, Vjačeslav ; uk, В'ячеслав, V"jačeslav ), is a Russian and Ukrainian masculine given name. It is the equivalent of Belarusian language, Belarusian Вяч ...
(later Professor of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, corresponding member of the
Аcademy of Sciences of the Soviet Union), and Elena.
In 1917, Golubtsova graduated from a gym in Nizhny Novgorod, and then did library courses. Since 1920, during the
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
, she worked as a librarian on the
Тurkestan Front, and in the
agit-train
An agit-train (Russian: агитпоезд) was a locomotive engine with special auxiliary cars outfitted for propaganda purposes by the Bolshevik government of Soviet Russia during the time of the Russian Civil War, War Communism, and the New Eco ...
of the cavalry brigade, she met the Commissar, Georgy Malenkov. In 1920, she married him (though without official registration until her death, and the preservation of her maiden name) and joined 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 ...
.
After moving to Moscow in 1921, Golubtsova got a job at the Organizing Department of the Central Committee at got a separate room in the
Loskutnaya Hotel on
Тverskaya Street— the center of the Moscow Communist bohemia. Malenkov then entered the
Bauman Moscow State Technical University
The Bauman Moscow State Technical University, BMSTU (russian: link=no, Московский государственный технический университет им. Н. Э. Баумана (МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана)), some ...
(the couple decided to graduate one-by-one). From 1928 to 1930, she worked as a standardizer at the Moscow Metallurgical Plant.
In 1930, at the direction of the party organization, Golubtsova entered the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, where, as a student, she took the post of Secretary of the Institute Organization 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 ...
. After graduating in 1934, she worked as an engineer at the Dynamo Plant until 1936.
In 1936, she entered the graduate school of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, but was interrupted in 1938 due to giving birth to two sons.
During the
Great Patriotic War
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...
, from 1941 to 1942, Golubtsova was evacuated with her family to
Samara
Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...
, where she worked as an instructor in the Samara Regional Committee of the CPSU, responsible for the aviation and electrical industries. For the work con commissioning the evacuated factories at a rapid pace,
general quarters
General quarters, battle stations, or action stations is an announcement made aboard a naval warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed ...
, and start-up of enterprises, and fulfillment of the plan at all costs, Golubtsova was awarded 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 ...
.
In 1942, she returned to Moscow. On 3 June 1943, Golubtsova, an assistant at the Department of Cable Engineering, was appointed director of the Moscow Order of Lenin of the V.M. Molotov Power Engineering Institute. She was the director of the university until 4 January 1952.
As the director of the MPEI
![Lefortovo mei](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Lefortovo_mei.jpg)
Beginning to lead the MPEI, Golubtsova knew the institute well, since she herself graduated from it, studied at its graduate school, and, during her studies, was repeatedly elected to the party bureau of the institute. She knew the teaching staff, the party, Komsomol, trade union activists, the traditions, and the material base of the institute. In turn, she was well known in the circles of the top party and state leadership of the country, as well as the leadership of the electric and thermal power industry, among which were MPEI graduates
Alexei Pavlenko
Alexey, Alexei, Alexie, Aleksei, or Aleksey (russian: Алексе́й ; bg, Алексей ) is a Russian and Bulgarian male first name deriving from the Greek ''Aléxios'' (), meaning "Defender", and thus of the same origin as the Latin ...
,
Dmitry Zhimerin, and
Аnatoly Petrakovsky. In the position of the director of the institute, Golubtsova did a lot to expand the institute and increase its scientific potential. Those who knew her at work noted her ability to see the future and the ability to organize people to solve tasks.
According to
Boris Chertok
Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (russian: link=no, Бори́с Евсе́евич Черто́к; – 14 December 2011) was a Russian electrical engineer and the control systems designer in the Soviet Union's space program, and later found employm ...
's memoirs about Golubtsova during the Great Patriotic War:
She assumed full responsibility, removed the confused director from the leadership, and organized, as far as possible, a normal evacuation and then the continuation of the educational activities of the institute in a new place. <...> After the war, Golubtsova, as director, showed exceptional activity in the construction of new educational buildings, a pilot plant, the expansion of the laboratory and research base, the construction of a palace of culture, a hostel and residential buildings for professors and teachers. Largely thanks to her energy, combined with her proximity to the highest authorities of the country, a whole town of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute grew up in the area of Krasnokazarmennaya Street. <...> God generously endowed her with organizational talent. The sensitivity inherent in women helped her to unite the efforts of all scientists of the institute with a minimum of contradictions. In any case, the solid MPEI professorship supported the director in all her activities.
The work of Golubtsova as director was highly appreciated by her colleagues. Professor R.G. Romanov stated:
Valeria Alekseyevna's place is among the most prominent MPEI figures.
In my opinion, after the creator of the MPEI, Karl Krug, Valeria Alekseyevna Golubtsova is in second place in terms of importance, in terms of the weight of all her daily work.
Professor A.N. Starostin stated:
I saw in her not only a beautiful intelligent woman, a scientist, and a leader, but also a loving mother, for whom the success and happiness of children is the most important thing in life.
Academician Alexander Sheindlin stated:
This woman, to be objective, really did a lot to turn the MPEI into a first-class institution of higher education.
The director of the MPEI at the time of Golubtsova's application for the post, Ilya Teltelbaum, stated:
Director of the MPEI V. A. Golubtsova acted exceptionally bravely and decently. After reviewing the documents and the main works of Ilya Markovich and talking with him, in the midst of the "doctors' case" and the fight against "cosmopolitanism", she ordered the head of the MPEI personnel department to take this employee under her personal responsibility.
Golubtsova found an opportunity and took care of the life of students. From the memoirs of students of this time:
Valeria Alekseevna tried to do everything possible to help poor students, and literally dressed the graduate Kalina from head to toe, sending her to the disposal of the Altaienergo department after defending her diploma.
Professor A. L. Zinovev stated:
Valeria Alekseevna constantly found opportunities to provide specific targeted assistance to those in particular need of it. And always "at first there was a word", a kind word…
At the same time, in the memoirs of
Raisa Kuznetsova, the wife of the Director of the
IIET Ivan Kunetsov, Golubtsova's pronounced
antisemitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
is clearly noted, in her opinion.
In 1944, the
Council of People's Commissars of the USSR
The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the highest collegial body of executive and administrative authority of the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1946.
As the government of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars of th ...
issued a resolution on the development of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, an all-Union training base for power engineers. Valeria Alekseevna took up the implementation of the government's decision with her characteristic energy and perseverance. In a short time, she obtained the necessary funds and materials for the construction of the main building of the MPEI — House Number 17. The construction battalion, with the active participation of students and employees, built buildings "B", "C", "G", "D" of house number 17, row buildings on the territory of a student hostel, all red brick houses on Energeticheskaya Street. Under the conditions of hostilities, such construction was practically impossible, since each builder was counted, but Valeria Alekseevna succeeded. It was she who was able to resolve the issue of transferring two buildings to MPEI: a large 8-story building No. 13, built in 1928–1930 according to the project of a team of domestic authors, and house No. 14, where until 1944 the headquarters of the partisan movement in the Great Patriotic War was located. Later, house number 14 was completed.
In the spring of 1945, Golubtsova, who had the rank of major, visited Vienna, which had just been taken, in order to obtain a test bench and measuring equipment for MPEI, which were located at the Allgemeine Electrische Gesellschaft (AEG) electrical enterprise that was to be dismantled.
Golubtsova personally supervised the MPEI research department, the capital construction department, the campus, and the educational department. She took away from the people's commissars, or in her words, "grabbed captured equipment in Germany" what was needed to equip the MPEI.
With the participation and assistance of Valeria Alekseyevna, the MPEI built the only education and experimental combined heat and power plant in the USSR — the MPEI CHPP with a capacity of 12 megawatts, commissioned in 1951. She achieved the allocation of territory for the construction of rest houses near Moscow and in Crimea, in
Аlupka, and when the rest house in Alupka was confiscated from the MPEI and converted into a
tuberculosis sanatorium
A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...
of the
All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions The All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions (ACCTU; russian: Всесоюзный центральный совет профессиональных союзов, VTsSPS) was the national trade union federation of the Soviet Union.
The federati ...
, she insisted on compensation, and the MPEI was allocated a site for the construction of a sports camp in Crimea, in the
Аlush ta region, which later became a cult place for MPEI students.
Golubtsova actively helped employees in difficult moments of their lives: for many she "knocked out" work cards and vouchers to a sanatorium. She did not expel
Boris Chertok
Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (russian: link=no, Бори́с Евсе́евич Черто́к; – 14 December 2011) was a Russian electrical engineer and the control systems designer in the Soviet Union's space program, and later found employm ...
(in the future, a prominent figure in the Soviet rocket and space industry) from the MPEI for debt, and
Vladimir Kotelnikov (later a radio physicist) covered up from the Minister of State Security
Viktor Kotelnikov
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
. Among the personal nominees of Golubtsova are MPEI graduates
Vladimir Kotelnikov,
Boris Chertok
Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (russian: link=no, Бори́с Евсе́евич Черто́к; – 14 December 2011) was a Russian electrical engineer and the control systems designer in the Soviet Union's space program, and later found employm ...
,
Vladimir Kirillin
Vladimir Alekseyevich Kirillin (russian: Владимир Алексеевич Кириллин; – 29 January 1999) was a Soviet physicist specializing in energetics and thermophysics and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Un ...
,
Alexander Sheindlin,
Аlexei Vogomolov, and dozens of professors.
Later years and death
In 1952, after a serious illness, she was forced to leave the post of director, and took up scientific work. From 1953 onwards, she was deputy director of the
Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology. In 1956 she defended her doctoral dissertation on the history of the development of cable technology in the USSR, at the same time she was awarded the academic title of professor in the department of general electrical engineering.
V. A. Golubtsova put forward the idea of publishing and became the editor-in-chief of the capital two-volume History of Power Engineering in the USSR (1957).
After her husband,
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov ( – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician who briefly succeeded Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union. However, at the insistence of the rest of the Presidium, he relinquished control over the par ...
, was removed from all party and state posts in 1957, she followed him into exile in
Oskemen
Oskemen ( kk, Өскемен, translit=Öskemen ), or Ust-Kamenogorsk (russian: Усть-Каменого́рск), is the administrative center of East Kazakhstan Region of Kazakhstan. Population:
Name
The city has two official names. In th ...
, and later in
Ekibastuz
Ekibastuz ( kk, Екібастұз, translit=Ekıbastūz, , ەكئباستۇز; russian: Экибастуз) is a city in Pavlodar Region, northeastern Kazakhstan. The population was Ekibastuz is served by Ekibastuz Airport.
History
The history ...
.
After the death of her mother-in-law in 1968, they moved to the village of
Udelnaya in the
Moscow region
Moscow Oblast ( rus, Моско́вская о́бласть, r=Moskovskaya oblast', p=mɐˈskofskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ), or Podmoskovye ( rus, Подмоско́вье, p=pədmɐˈskovʲjə, literally "under Moscow"), is a federal subject of Rus ...
. In 1971, she was made a
political pensioner
A political pensioner enjoys a pension awarded due to his or political career or significance.
UK domestic politicians
By the Political Offices Pension Act 1869, pensions were instituted for those who had held political office. For the purpose ...
.
From 1973 onward, she lived with her husband in Moscow, on 2 Sinichkina Street, in a two-room apartment. In 1980, by the order of
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (– 9 February 1984) was the sixth paramount leader of the Soviet Union and the fourth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. After Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, Andropov served in the po ...
, they were given a two-room apartment on the
Frunzenskaya Embankment
Frunzenskaya Embankment is a street and embankment in Khamovniki District of Moscow. It is a section of the embankment along the Moskva between the Krymsky and Novoandreevsky Bridges.
Etymology
Along with three adjacent streets, Frunzenskaya Em ...
, where the couple spent the last years of their lives.
Golubtsova died on 1 October 1987. She was buried with her husband at the
Kuntsevo Cemetery
The Kuntsevo Cemetery (russian: Ку́нцевское кла́дбище, kúntsevkoye kládbishche) is a cemetery servicing Kuntsevo, Moscow. It is located on the bank of the Setun River, to the south of the Mozhaisk Highway (the continuation ...
in Moscow.
Family
Her husband was
Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov ( – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician who briefly succeeded Joseph Stalin as the leader of the Soviet Union. However, at the insistence of the rest of the Presidium, he relinquished control over the par ...
, a Soviet statesman and party leader, and an ally of
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 Secreta ...
. They had three children, who each chose various professions, and who all became doctors of science.
* Volta Malenkova (1924–2010) was an architect. She had one son from her first marriage, Sergei (1946–2010). During her second marriage she had another son, Alexander Stepanov. Together with Alexander, they had Proterozoic Aleksandrovich Stepanov (1953–2014). Malenkova took part in the construction of the Church of St. George the Victorious in the village of
Semyonovskoye near Moscow.
*
Andrei Malenkov (born 29 May 1937) is a Doctor of Biological Sciences, a professor, a specialist in the field of biophysics; and the honorary vice-president of the
Russian Academy of Natural Sciences
The Russian Academy of Natural Sciences ( Russian: Российская академия естественных наук) is a Russian non-governmental organization founded on August 31 1990 in Moscow in the former Soviet Union, following a de ...
.
* Georgy Georgievich Malenkov (born 20 October 1938) is a Doctor of Chemical Sciences, a professor, and a member of the editorial board of the Structural Chemistry Journal.
Grandchildren
* Daria Andreevna Malenkova is a marketing director in a food-related firm.
* Yegor Andreevich Malenkov is a carpenter-restorer, engaged in the restoration of the interior decoration of churches. With his participation, 10 churches were restored.
* Dmitry Andreevich Malenkov is a cardiac surgeon at the Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, A. N. Bakulev of the Ministry of Health of Russia.
* Anastasia Andreevna Malenkova is a lecturer at the Institute of Asian and African Countries of Moscow State University.
Awards
*
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 ...
(1944) — for the performance by the institute of important work for the front
*
Order of the Red Star
The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...
(1945)— for work on the restoration of the MPEI in wartime
* Various medals of the USSR
Works
* History and Prospects for the Development of Electrical Insulating Materials. — M.: Gosenergoizdat, 1957. — 78 p.
* Issues of Training Engineering Personnel for the Power Industry. // Journal of Electricity, 1946, No. 4. p. 3.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Golubtsova, Valeriya
Academic staff of Moscow Power Engineering Institute
Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery
Moscow Power Engineering Institute alumni
Recipients of the Order of the Red Star
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
1901 births
1987 deaths