The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, Gosudarstvennaya premiya SSSR) was the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

's state honor. It was established on 9 September 1966. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the prize was followed up by the

State Prize of the Russian Federation The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates ...

. The State Stalin Prize ( Государственная Сталинская премия, ''Gosudarstvennaya Stalinskaya premiya''), usually called the Stalin Prize, existed from 1941 to 1954, although some sources give a termination date of 1952. It essentially played the same role; therefore upon the establishment of the USSR State Prize, the diplomas and badges of the recipients of Stalin Prize were changed to that of USSR State Prize. In 1944 and 1945, the last two years of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the award ceremonies for the Stalin Prize were not held. Instead, in 1946 the ceremony was held twice: in January for the works created in 1943–1944 and in June for the works of 1945. Volkov, Solomon, tr. Bouis, Antonina W., ''Shostakovich and Stalin: The Extraordinary Relationship Between the Great Composer and the Brutal Dictator'' (New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). , Chapter 5. USSR State Prize of 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees was awarded annually to individuals in the fields of science, mathematics, literature, arts, and architecture to honor the most prominent achievements which either advanced the Soviet Union or the cause of socialism. Often the prize was awarded to specific works rather than to individuals. Each constituent Soviet republic (SSR) and autonomous republic (ASSR) also had a State Prize (or Stalin Prize). The Stalin Prize was an honor different from the Stalin Peace Prize. The latter was created on 21 December 1949 and was usually awarded to foreign recipients rather than to Soviet citizens. It should also not be confused with the Lenin Prize.

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