Ivan Vasilyevich Plotnikov () (1902–1995) was a Soviet engineer and inventor of kirza, a type of

artificial leather Artificial leather, also called synthetic leather, is a material intended to substitute for leather in upholstery, clothing, footwear, and other uses where a leather-like finish is desired but the actual material is cost prohibitive or unsuitab ...

based on the multi-layer textile fabric, modified by membrana-like substances, a cheap and effective replacement for the natural leather. The material is mainly used in production of military boots and the belts for machinery and automobiles. Plotnikov worked in the city of Kirov, at the ''Kirov plant'' or ''Kirovskiy Zavod'', a fabric producing artificial leather. The name ''kirza'' is an

acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial Letter (alphabet), letter of each wor ...

from ''Kirovskiy Zavod'', which was the first place of the mass production of kirza.В. И. Шмакова Комбинат «Искож» // Энциклопедия земли Вятской / отв. В. Ситников. — Киров: «О-Краткое», 2008. — Т. 10. Книга вторая. Промышленность. Энергетика. Строительство. Транспорт. The technology was invented in 1935 by Plotnikov and his fellow engineer Khomutov.Kirza
The mass production began during the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Initially the material proved to be unfit to the winter conditions, and the production was halted. However, very soon the technology was improved and the mass production was resumed in the autumn and winter of 1941 during the German invasion of Soviet Union, since the large numbers of footwear were badly needed for the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

. For the invention of kirza, Ivan Plotnikov was awarded the Stalin Prize the size of 100,000

ruble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s on 10 April 1942, as ordered by the

Council of People's Commissars The Council of People's Commissars (CPC) (), commonly known as the ''Sovnarkom'' (), were the highest executive (government), executive authorities of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR), the Soviet Union (USSR), and the Sovi ...

of the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plotnikov, Ivan Vasilyevich Recipients of the Stalin Prize 1995 deaths 1902 births D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia alumni Soviet inventors Soviet engineers Soviet chemists