Yury Abramovich Nozhikov (russian: Юрий Абрамович Ножиков, 1934–2010) was a Soviet electrical engineer and Russian politician who was the first governor of
Irkutsk Oblast
Irkutsk Oblast (russian: Ирку́тская о́бласть, Irkutskaya oblast; bua, Эрхүү можо, Erkhüü mojo) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of the Angara, Lena, and Nizh ...
(
East Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
) in 1991–1997.
Early life
Yury Chen was born in Leningrad (modern
Saint 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 1934 to a Chinese father Chen Kin San (Leonid Chen) and Russian mother Tatyana Toropova, who was working as nurse. His father most likely fell under
Stalinist repressions in 1937. Later Yury's mother remarried Jewish worker Abram Moiseyevich Nozhikov, and the boy received his last name and
patronymic
A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor.
Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
.
Abram Nozhikov died in 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 ...
in 1942.
In 1956 Nozhikov graduated from the
Ivanovo
Ivanovo ( rus, Иваново, p=ɪˈvanəvə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Russia. It is the administrative center and largest city of Ivanovo Oblast, located northeast of Moscow and approximately from Yaroslavl, Vlad ...
Power Engineering Institute. He worked at the largest construction sites in the Urals, Siberia, the Far East and the Far North. Since 1970 he was the manager of VostokEnergoMontazh trust, from 1984 to 1988 — general director of
BratskGESstroy.
Political career
In 1961 he 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 ...
. From 1988 to 1991 Nozhikov was Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Irkutsk Regional Council of People's Deputies. He was elected a member of the
Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR
The Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR (russian: Верховный Совет РСФСР, ''Verkhovny Sovet RSFSR''), later Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation (russian: Верховный Совет Российской Федерации, ...
of the 11th and
12th
12 (twelve) is the natural number following 11 and preceding 13. Twelve is a superior highly composite number, divisible by 2, 3, 4, and 6.
It is the number of years required for an orbital period of Jupiter. It is central to many systems ...
convocations.
Governorship
On 19 September 1991, the
President of Russia
The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
appointed Nozhikov as the head of Irkutsk Oblast administration.
During the preparation of the
Federation Treaty
The Treaty of Federation (russian: Федеративный договор, Federativny dogovor) was a treaty signed on 31 March 1992 in Moscow between the Russian government and 86 of 89 federal subjects of Russia.
The Treaty of Federation ref ...
with krais, oblasts and federal cities on 31 March 1992 Nozhikov went on a confrontation with the federal government in regional interests. On the morning of March 31, at a meeting with governors and the chief federal inspector
Valery Makharadze, Nozhikov proposed to consider an additional Protocol that slightly smooths out the status inequality of the
autonomous republics
An autonomous republic is a type of administrative division similar to a province or state. A significant number of autonomous republics can be found within the successor states of the Soviet Union, but the majority are located within Russia. Man ...
and other regions in matters of lawmaking, state property, the principles of the budgetary system, etc. None of his colleagues supported him. By signing the Treaty, Nozhikov added a line "Taking into account the signed protocol." In September 1992 Nozhikov refused to comply with the presidential decree requiring the transfer of at least 49% of the shares of joint-stock companies established on the basis of Soviet energy enterprises to the statutory fund of the
United Energy System of Russia.
He was the co-chairman of the All-Russian Union "Renewal" (1992–93), since June 1992 he was a member of the Political and Consultative Council of the
Civic Union.
On 20 March 1993 president Yeltsin announced his decide to remove from offices
Vitaly Mukha of
Novosibirsk Oblast
Novosibirsk Oblast (russian: Новосиби́рская о́бласть, ''Novosibirskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) located in southwestern Siberia. Its administrative and economic center is the city of Novosibirsk ...
and Yury Nozhikov "for violating the law." After the protests of the Lesser Soviet of Irkutsk Oblast Yeltsin renounced his decision.
Yury Nozhikov initiated the first elections of local self-government bodies in Russia. The possibility of holding such elections was provided by the
Constitution of the Russian Federation
The Constitution of the Russian Federation () was adopted by national referendum on 12 December 1993. Russia's constitution came into force on 25 December 1993, at the moment of its official publication, and abolished the Soviet system of gov ...
, adopted on December 12. On the same day Nozhikov was elected member of the first
Federation Council
The Federation Council (russian: Сове́т Федера́ции – ''Soviet Federatsii'', common abbreviation: Совфед – ''Sovfed''), or Senate (officially, starting from July 1, 2020) ( ru , Сенат , translit = Senat), is th ...
.
On 27 March 1994 he was
elected Elected may refer to:
* "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973
* ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008
*The Elected, an American indie rock band
See also
*Election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...
governor of Irkutsk Oblast with 78.16% of the vote. He was deputy chairman of the Council of Governors of Russia, Chairman of the Mineral Use Committee of the "Siberian Agreement" interregional association.
On 25 April 1997 Nozhikov resigned from office citing ill health and "coming of another period" in regions' relations with the federal government. He was succeeded by mayor of Irkutsk
Boris Govorin
Boris Alexandrovich Govorin (russian: Борис Александрович Говорин; born 27 June 1947) is a Russian politician, former Mayor of Irkutsk an Governor of Irkutsk Oblast.
Biography
Boris Govorin was born in Irkutsk in 1947 to ...
, who defeated
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
Sergey Levchenko
Sergey Georgievich Levchenko (Russian Cyrillic: Сергей Георгиевич Левченко, born November 2, 1953) is a Russian politician and member of the 8th State Duma. He served as the Governor of Irkutsk Oblast from 2015 to 2019. ...
.
Yury Nozhikov died in
Irkutsk
Irkutsk ( ; rus, Иркутск, p=ɪrˈkutsk; Buryat language, Buryat and mn, Эрхүү, ''Erhüü'', ) is the largest city and administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia. With a population of 617,473 as of the 2010 Census, Irkutsk is ...
on 15 June 2010.
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 ...
(1971, 1981)
*
USSR State Prize
The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the Soviet Union's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, t ...
(1985) — "for the creation of the
Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant
The Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant (russian: Билибинская АЭС []) is a Power station, power plant in Bilibino, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. The plant is equipped with four EGP-6 reactors. The plant is the smallest and the second ...
"
* Order of Friendship of Peoples (1994) — "for his great contribution to the implementation of economic reforms, active work to consolidate democratic forces and strengthen Russian statehood"
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nozhikov, Yury
Governors of Irkutsk Oblast
1934 births
2010 deaths
Russian people of Chinese descent
Engineers from Saint Petersburg
Members of the Federation Council of Russia (1994–1996)
Members of the Federation Council of Russia (1996–2000)