The V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy (), abbreviated as VPA, was a higher military educational institution of the

Soviet Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union, the Red Army (1918–1946) and the Soviet Army (1946–1991), were the armed forces of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republi ...

from 1919 to 1991 that provided advanced training to political workers.

History

The predecessor of the academy was the Teachers' Institute of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

, which was established on 5 November 1919 from the Courses for

Agitators The Agitators were a political movement as well as elected representatives of soldiers, including members of the New Model Army under General the Lord Fairfax, during the English Civil War. They were also known as ''adjutators''. Many of the id ...

at the

Smolny Institute The Smolny Institute () is a Palladian edifice in Saint Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia, notably as a center of women's education, and the headquarters of the Bolsheviks during the early stages of the October Re ...

in Petrograd. The institute was named after Nikolay Tolmachyov, a political worker who was killed at the front; the academy continued to carry the name of Tolmachev in subsequent renamings until 1938. The institute carried the mission of training teachers for Red Army schools and political workers for the army. It was renamed the Petrograd Red Army University on 14 April 1920 and was transferred to the Political Directorate (PUR), being renamed the Petrograd Instructors' Institute by orders of 10 and 12 March 1921. The institute was combined with the 16th Army Red Army University (formed by the Western Front on 5 July 1920), which had absorbed the party schools of the

8th Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight. Eighth may refer to: * One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole * Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet) * Octave, an interval b ...

and 17th Rifle Divisions in August 1920, on 3 March 1922. The Higher Military-Political Course was created as a result of the merger. The course was soon renamed to the Military-Political Institute of the Red Army and Fleet on 14 February 1923 and made equivalent to a military academy. It became the N. G. Tolmachev Military-Political Academy on 14 May 1925 and was subordinated to the chief of higher educational institutions under the PUR. The VPA was tasked with providing higher education to political workers. Awarded the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

on 31 October 1934, the academy was renamed in honor of

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

on 11 January 1938, assuming its longtime name: V. I. Lenin Military-Political Academy. The academy was also relocated to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1938. The academy was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

on 13 December 1944 and the

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on 31 October 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferred upon individuals or groups for services furthering communis ...

in 1969. The academy was reorganized as the Humanitarian Academy on 7 December 1991 as a result of the elimination of political workers in the armed forces.

Structure of the Academy

Faculties

* Combined Arms * Naval * Air Force * Military pedagogical *

Military Law Military justice (or military law) is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many nation-states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states us ...

(operating from 1957–1974) * Faculty of distance learning * Faculty for the training of officers of the countries of popular democracy * Higher academic courses

Departments

* Department of History of the CPSU * Department of dialectical and historical materialism * Department of political economics * Department of Soviet History * Department of pedagogy * Department of the History of International Workers and National Liberation Movement * Department of party work * Department of political and military geography * Department of Journalism * Department of Theory and History of State and Law and State Law * Department of Criminal Law * Department of Judicial Law and Criminalistics * Department of military administration and administrative law * Department of Tactics * Department of Artillery * Department of the Air Force * Department of the Navy * Department of the history of wars and military art * Department of Communications and Radar * Department of atomic and chemical weapons * Department of Engineering Troops * Department of military topography * Department of physical fitness

Support and service units

* Club Academy * Guard Company *

Military Band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind instrument, wind and percussion instruments. The conducting, conductor of a ...

* Medical Service and Clinic * Automotive Department * Artillery Repair Shop * Independent Combined Battalion (Military Unit 21212)

Awards

(1934) *

(1944) *

(1969)

Notable graduates

Pyotr Klimuk Pyotr Ilyich Klimuk (; ; born 10 July 1942) is a former Soviet Union, Soviet astronaut, cosmonaut and the first Belarusians, Belarusian to perform space travel. Klimuk made three crewed space mission, flights into space. From 1991 to 2003, he he ...

– A former Soviet

cosmonaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and the first Belarusian to perform space travel. * Nikolai Vedeneyev – Former head of faculty at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization. * Alexander Moiseyevsky – Major general and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

. * Semyon Rudniev – A leader of Soviet partisan movement during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. * Alexey Sorokin – An Admiral of the Fleet and former member of the

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. *

Victor Gaiciuc Victor Gaiciuc (born 12 March 1957) is a Moldovan general (military), military general, who served as Moldovan Minister of Defense, Minister of Defense of Moldova from 2001 until 2004, 2019 until 2020 and 2020 until 2021. He was also the Defense a ...

– National Security Advisor to Moldovan President

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. He was also the Secretary of the Supreme Security Council and was a two time

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. * Igor Alekseyev – A

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* Xue Zizheng – Former deputy head of the

United Front Work Department The United Front Work Department (UFWD) is a department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with " united front work". It gathers intelligence on, manages relations with, and attempts to gain influence over ...

of the

Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is the Central committee, highest organ when the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, national congress is not ...

. * Levan Sharashenidze – A Soviet and Georgian general who formerly served as the Defense Minister of Georgia. *

João Lourenço João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço (born 5 March 1954) is an Angolan politician who is currently serving as the third president of Angola since 26 September 2017. Previously, he was the minister of defence from 2014 to 2017. In September 2018, ...

– President of Angola

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{Cite book, url=http://guides.eastview.com/browse/guidebook.html?bid=121, title=Центральный государственный архив Советской армии: Путеводитель, publisher=Eastview Publications, year=1993, isbn=1879944030, editor-last=Dvoinykh, editor-first=L.V., volume=2, location=Minneapolis, language=ru, trans-title=A Guide to the Central State Archive of the Soviet Army, editor-last2=Karyaeva, editor-first2=T.F., editor-last3=Stegantsev, editor-first3=M.V. Military academies of the Soviet Union Political-Military Educational Institutions Educational institutions established in 1919 Educational institutions disestablished in 1991 Military units and formations disestablished in 1991 Military units and formations awarded the Order of the Red Banner 1919 establishments in Russia 1991 disestablishments in Russia Lenin