Ivan Bridko

Born May 18 (31), 1905, in the village of Ivanovka, now in Donetsk Oblast. Soviet miner and innovator in the organization of labor in coal mines. Member of the CPSU since 1940.

From 1925 to 1965, Brid’ko worked in the Dimitrov Mine No. 5/6 in the Donets Basin. He worked as a mucker, timberman, driftman, cutter, loader, cutting machine operator, mine foreman, section chief (from 1936), and assistant to the mine’s chief engineer (from 1960). For active participation in the restoration and construction of coal mines in the Donets Basin and for contributions toward ensuring a considerable increase in coal extraction by way of the longwall system, he was twice awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (1948, 1957). A deputy to the fifth convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Brid’ko has been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.