Order of Lenin as the highest award

The Order of Lenin became the third in a row and the main one in terms of seniority in the award system of the Soviet Union. The date of the official establishment is called April 6, 1930, but discussions about its foundation began in the summer of 1926.

Appearance and status of the Order of Lenin

On the front side of the medallion there is an image of Lenin’s profile, framed by a wreath of wheat ears. A sickle and a hammer are placed above the portrait, and below it are the letters of the USSR.

According to the statute, any person or enterprise (a team of employees, a locality, a republic, a military unit) could be presented for an award, not only from the USSR, but also from another state.

It was possible to earn the award by showing oneself in revolutionary activity, making a special contribution to the development of culture, economy and science, as well as having accomplished a military feat or having achieved certain success in the professional field.

The Order of Lenin is divided into 4 types according to the time of existence:

• Volume I – Lenin’s profile is depicted against the background of an industrial landscape and a tractor. Material – silver. The production of this type was stopped in February 1932;
• Volume II – established in September 1934 and awarded until 1936.
• III – issued and awarded only 7 years, from 1936 to 1943.
• Volume IV – represents the final version of the order, established in June 1943.

Interesting: The recipient could be deprived of the order.

For the entire period of existence, this happened 51 times.

Knights of the order in different historical periods were:

• foreigners – Johann Liebhard, George MacDowell, Frank Honey;
• collectives, enterprises and factories – “Moselectric”, “Krasnaya Zarya”, the Union of Composers;
• hero cities – Minsk, Odessa, Smolensk and the cities of Sverdlovsk, Chisinau, Alma-Ata;
• Soviet citizens – Ivan Michurin, Isaac Brodsky, Valery Chkalov, Mamlakat Nakhangova, Leonid Brezhnev.