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Order of Lenin

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Order of Lenin

Badge
File:Order of Lenin.jpg

Medal
The Order of Lenin ribbon.
Ribbon

The Order of Lenin (Russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was the highest national order of the Soviet Union. The Order was bestowed for the following:

  • to civilians for outstanding services rendered to the State
  • to members of the armed forces for exemplary service
  • to those who promoted friendship and cooperation between peoples and in strengthening peace
  • other meritorious services to the Soviet state and society

Those who were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union and the Hero of Socialist Labor were also given the Order at the same time. The Order was also bestowed on cities, companies, factories, regions, military units and ships. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The first native recipient was a Soviet newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on May 23 1930. First five foreign recipients were a German and four American (one of the Americans was Frank Bruno Honey[1] - on May 17, 1932) specialists, who received this award for helping in the reconstruction of Soviet industry and agriculture in 1931-1934.[2] Two American air mechanics, Clyde Armistead and William Latimer Lavery,[3] received the award on September 10 1934 for participation in search and rescue operations of the steamship Cheliuskin.

Design of the decoration

The final design of the Order of Lenin was accepted in 1934. The Order consisted of a badge, featuring a disc bearing the portrait of Vladimir Lenin in silver. The disc is surrounded by two golden panicles of wheat, and a red flag with the word "Lenin" in Cyrillic script (Ленин). A red star is placed on the left, and a Hammer and Sickle emblem is located at the bottom, also colored in red.

Originally, the badge was worn on the left chest without ribbon. Later it was worn as a medal on a red ribbon with two yellow stripes on each edge (see image above). The chest ribbon is of the same design. (Note: The ribbon for the Order is the same as that of the British Fire Services' Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.)

The head of Lenin was originally made from silver. However, as time progressed, the head appeared in gold for a time and later was made from platinum until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

Recipients

The assassin of Leon Trotsky is reported to have been awarded the Order in 1960, although according to Alan Bullock, he took care never to wear it.

In the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October, the doctor on the Red October tells the captain of the ship, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) that his plan to scuttle the ship (and die with the other officers on board) rather than allow the Americans to capture it and the secret technology on board, whilst saving the non-commissioned crewmembers, would surely earn him the Order.

In the video game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, the Soviet scientist Aleksandr Leonovitch Granin shows off his various awards including the Order of Lenin and boasts about being given the title of 'Hero of Socialism' for his development of the mobile ballistic missile system known as SS-1C (better known as Scud).

James Bond receives the Order in the 1985 film A View to a Kill. It is awarded by General Anatol Gogol, for saving the American microchip industry (and thus, by implication of heavy espionage, the Soviet microchip industry), which was going to be destroyed by the main villain Max Zorin. In the movie, Bond is said to be the first non-Soviet citizen to receive the award, though this is not historically accurate. Various other villains and characters in the James Bond movie series have worn the Order on their uniforms, usually in the form of a ribbon bar.

See also


References

  1. ^ "One American, Frank Bruno Honey, received the Order of Lenin for his work." Dana G. Dalrymple, The American Tractor Comes to Soviet Agriculture: The Transfer of a Technology, Technology and Culture, Vol. 5, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), pp. 191-214 [1]
  2. ^ Template:Ru icon Order of Lenin - history of establishment, evolution and varieties by Valery Durov
  3. ^ The Junior Aircraft Year Book, 1935, p.8
  4. ^ Tito's Home Page - With world leaders
  5. ^ Obituary reference in the Indian Parliament
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