Lenin Prize

Establishment and first period

The Lenin Prize was established on 23 June 1925 by a decision of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Council of People's Commissars. From 1926 to 1935 it was awarded for scientific work under the name 'V. I. Lenin Prize', in order 'to encourage scientific activity in the direction closest to the ideas of V. I. Lenin, namely, in the direction of a close connection between science and life'. Awards ceased in 1935 and the place was taken by the Stalin Prize, awarded from 1940 to 1955. The English article's lead and the NSA document, however, state that the first period ran until 1934, so the 1934-versus-1935 boundary remains a conflict between sources.

Reinstatement and operation

On 15 August 1956 a joint resolution of the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers reinstated the Lenin Prizes and set their award for Lenin's birthday, 22 April. In 1957 the prize was re-established for outstanding scientific works, architectural and technical structures, inventions introduced into the national economy and technological processes, and prizes were also created for outstanding works of literature and art; in March 1960 Lenin Prizes in journalism and publicism were established.

From 1957 the prizes were awarded annually on Lenin's birthday (except 1958 and 1966), and from 1967 every two years in even years. 'Closed' or 'secret' Lenin Prizes were frequently awarded, mainly for work connected with national defence, and the decisions were not published; in these cases the two-year rule might not apply. Forty-two prizes were awarded at first; from 1961 the regulations allowed up to 76 a year (up to 60 by the Committee on Lenin Prizes in Science and Technology and up to 16 by the Committee on Lenin Prizes in Science and Art), and the joint resolution of 9 September 1966 cut the number to 30 from 1967 (25 in science and technology, 5 in literature, art and architecture). In 1970 an additional prize for children's works of literature and art was established.

The Regulation on the Lenin Prizes, approved by the CPSU Central Committee and the USSR Council of Ministers on 17 February 1967, listed the bodies entitled to nominate works: the USSR Academy of Sciences and union-republic academies, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the All-Union Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences, scientific and engineering societies, ministry boards, state committees, the AUCCTU Presidium, the Komsomol Central Committee, the boards of the unions of writers, artists, composers, architects, filmmakers and journalists, the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Arts, publishing houses, editorial boards, and staff meetings of enterprises, institutions and organizations. Nominated works had to have been published (publicly performed, constructed) at least a year before the nomination deadline, while technology and production works could be nominated after their introduction into the national economy.

Between 1956 and 1967 the Lenin Prize was the only state prize of the highest level, so the number of laureates was high; in 1967 the USSR State Prize was established and was considered less prestigious, which raised the standing of the Lenin Prize. Stalin Prize diplomas awarded from 1941 to 1953 were replaced with corresponding USSR State Prize diplomas. Award announcements were published in the press on Lenin's birthday, and the ceremony was held on 22 April.

Status and scale of laureates

Laureates became part of the Soviet nomenklatura on a par with academicians of the USSR Academy of Sciences, receiving corresponding privileges; in 1970, 49 Lenin Prize laureates were elected to the USSR Supreme Soviet. Illustrating the scale, the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences was given the Order of Lenin in 1969 and published 'Akademiya Nauk Ukrainskoy SSR 1969', which identified 48 of its colleagues as Lenin Prize laureates. Since 1970, 226 people had shared 32 Lenin Prizes while 1,057 people had shared 126 State Prizes, well below the 175 Lenin Prizes and 250 State Prizes indicated by the Bol'shaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya; the gap is largely explained by unpublished 'closed' prizes.

Examples of laureates

Documented laureates include Nikolai Kravkov (1926, medicine), Aleksandr Chernyshyov (1930, radio engineering), Nikolay Demyanov (1930, chemistry), Andrei Sakharov (1956, physics), Pyotr Novikov (1957, mathematics), Sergei Prokofiev (1957, music, posthumously), Dmitri Shostakovich (1958, music composition), Grigory Chukhray (1959, arts), Mikhail Sholokhov (1960, literature), Sviatoslav Richter (1961, pianist), Korney Chukovsky (1962), Chinghiz Aitmatov (1963, literature), Mikhail Kalashnikov (1964, AK-47 assault rifle), Innokenty Smoktunovsky (1965, acting), Andrei Kolmogorov and Vladimir Arnold (1965, mathematics), Igor Moiseyev (1967, dance), Agniya Barto (1972, poetry), Gavriil Ilizarov (1979, medicine), Boris Babaian (1987, Elbrus-2 supercomputer) and Kaisyn Kuliev (1990, poetry, posthumously).

Distinctions and relations

The Lenin Prize differs from the Lenin Peace Prize. The Lenin Peace Prize was awarded to foreign citizens rather than citizens of the Soviet Union, for contributions to the cause of peace; it was created on 21 December 1949 as the International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples, renamed the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples on 6 September 1956 after de-Stalinization, renamed the International Lenin Peace Prize by Presidium decision of 11 December 1989, and ended by the Russian government after the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

The USSR State Prize and the Stalin Prize are also distinct. The USSR State Prize was established on 9 September 1966 by the Supreme Soviet as the direct successor of the State Stalin Prize (established 1941, ceremonies suspended 1944-45 and then held twice in 1946); from 1967 it carried a cash prize of 5,000 rubles and was awarded annually in three degrees. It could be given to the same laureate more than once, though not within five years, and recipients of the earlier Stalin Prize had their diplomas and badges reissued under the new name.

A contrast in practice is also documented. Thirty Lenin Prizes of 10,000 rubles each (25 in science and technology, 5 in literature, art and architecture) were awarded once every two years, whereas USSR State Prizes of 5,000 rubles were awarded yearly (up to 50 in science and technology and up to 10 for literature and art), and the rules on repeat awards differed. Works that had won the USSR State Prize were not nominated for the Lenin Prize, the same work could not be simultaneously nominated for both, and the Lenin Prize was not awarded twice to the same person.

The cash amount is a point on which sources diverge: the English and Russian articles state that laureates received 7,500 rubles each, whereas the January 1976 NSA article, quoting the third edition of the Bol'shaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, gives 10,000 rubles per prize (against 5,000 rubles for a USSR State Prize). The amount changed over time and the sources do not agree on a single figure.

End and aftermath

The final year is disputed. The English article states the prize was awarded every even-numbered year until 1990, while the Russian article states it was awarded from 1957 to 1991 and was not conferred after the dissolution of the USSR. It was not revived in the same form by a post-Soviet successor, but on 23 April 2018 the Governor of Ulyanovsk Oblast, Sergey Morozov, reintroduced a Lenin Prize for achievements in the humanities, literature and art for Lenin's 150th birthday in 2020.