Stakhanov, Aleksei

Born Dec. 21, 1905 (Jan. 3, 1906), in the village of Lugovaia, Orel Province. Coal industry innovator. Hero of Socialist Labor (1970). Member of the CPSU since 1936.

In 1927, Stakhanov began working at the Tsentral’naia-Irmino Mine in Kadievka (Donbas) as a brakeman. He later worked as a horse driver and pick miner and in 1933 became a pneumatic-drill operator (cutter). In 1935 he completed a course at the mine for cutters. During the night shift of Aug. 30–31,1935, Stakhanov set a record by extracting 102 tons of coal in one shift (5 hr 45 min), which was 14 times the quota. Stakhanov achieved these results through mastery of his equipment and a division of labor between cutter and timberman, which allowed him to cut coal by himself in several benches. On Sept. 19, 1935, Stakhanov set a new record, producing 227 tons of coal in a single shift. His achievements drew an enthusiastic response in the Donbas and later throughout the country, developing into the Stakhanovite movement.

In the years 1936–41, Stakhanov studied at the Industrial Academy in Moscow, and in 1941 and 1942 he was chief of Mine No. 31 in Karaganda. From 1943 to 1957 he worked at the Ministry of the Coal Industry of the USSR, and in the years 1957–59 he was deputy director of the Chistiakovantratsit Trust. In 1959 he became assistant chief engineer of Mine Administration No. 2/43 of the Torezantratsit Trust. He retired in 1974.

Stakhanov was a deputy to the first convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He has received two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.