Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov (Russian: Андре́й Дми́триевич Фила́тов; born 19 August 1912 in
Kharkov
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. ,
Kharkov Governorate
Kharkov Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire founded in 1835. It embraced the historical region of Sloboda Ukraine. From 1765 to 1780 and from 1796 to 1835 the governorate was called Sloboda Uk ...
,
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
– died 6 June 1973 in Moscow,
RSFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
,
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
) was a Soviet
metallurgical engineer, manager, and the eleventh director of the
Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine (1968–1973). He was a
Hero of Socialist Labour
The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...
(1971) and a laureate of the
State Prize of the USSR
The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...
.
Biography
Andrey Filatov was born on 19 August 1912 in the city of
Kharkov
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(now
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
), to a working-class family. He lived in the
Belgorod region. He completed six classes of a seven-year school. In 1930, following a
Komsomol
The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League, usually known as Komsomol, was a political youth organization in the Soviet Union. It is sometimes described as the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), although it w ...
call, Andrey Filatov arrived at the
Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine.
After arriving, Filatov enrolled in the
factory and plant school at the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine. During his studies, this school was in the city of
Verkhneuralsk
Verkhneuralsk () is a town and the administrative center of Verkhneuralsky District in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the upper streams of the Ural River, southwest of Chelyabinsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population:
...
. In 1931, he graduated from the school, specializing as an operator in the
coke chemical industry, and in the same year, Filatov began working at the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine.
Career
He worked as a bricklayer during the construction of
coke oven
Coke is a grey, hard, and porous coal-based fuel with a high carbon content. It is made by heating coal or petroleum in the absence of air. Coke is an important industrial product, used mainly in iron ore smelting, but also as a fuel in stove ...
s.
For a time, Filatov worked in the coke chemical production of the combine,
and then moved to the rolling mill shop, working as an assistant roller.
Andrey Dmitrievich completed evening classes at one of the Magnitogorsk technical schools, after which he became a foreman.
In 1938, Filatov moved to the
technical control department of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine, where he worked as a controller, deputy head, and head of the site. Alongside his work at the combine, he studied in the evening department of the
Magnitogorsk State Technical University
Magnitogorsk State Technical University is located in Magnitogorsk, Russia. Though it was established from branches of higher educational institutions in Ural in 1932, it was officially declared only in 1934, as Magnitogorsk Institute of Mining ...
, receiving a diploma in engineering metallurgy in 1944.
After graduating from the mining and metallurgical institute, Filatov started working in the wire-strip shop of MMK, where he took the position of head of the site of the technical control department. In 1950, Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (later
CPSU
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...
), and was appointed as the deputy head of the shop. In 1951, Andrey Filatov headed the wire-strip shop.
From 1960 to 1962, Filatov worked as the head of the production department of the combine, and from 1962 to 1968, he held the position of chief engineer of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine.
Director of Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine
In 1968, Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov succeeded
Feodosiy Dionisievich Voronov as the director of the
Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine, becoming the eleventh director of the largest metallurgical enterprise in the
USSR
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
.
Under the leadership of Andrey Filatov, four
open-hearth furnaces (№ 32, 31, 30, 35) of the first open-hearth shop of MMK were converted into two-bath steelmaking units, six open-hearth furnaces became single-channel, which significantly increased steel output. Additionally, coke oven battery № 4 was reconstructed (in 1970), as well as coke oven battery № 3 (in 1971).
In May 1969, the fifth sheet rolling shop of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine was commissioned, which included the installation of the "2500" cold rolling mill.
This shop became a significant achievement of the metallurgical enterprise, as it allowed metal production for automobile manufacturing.
In 1969, along with the head of the fifth sheet rolling shop
Leonid Radyukevich and the deputy chief power engineer of the combine Khussid, he was awarded the
State Prize of the Soviet Union in the technology field.
In 1972, director
Rychkov, Boris Nikolayevich made a film "Personal Responsibility," which tells about the work and personality of the directors of two major USSR enterprises – Andrey Filatov (MMK) and
Nikolay Slyun'kov (
Minsk Tractor Plant).
In May 1973, the first stage of the sixth sheet rolling shop was commissioned, and it became fully operational after Andrey Filatov's death, in the autumn of the same year.
This shop produces tinplate, widely used in the food industry. As of 2013, this shop has no analogs in the
Russian Federation
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
.
During Filatov's directorship at the enterprise he was entrusted with, eighteen new steel grades were mastered, and a liquid steel vacuuming unit was implemented.
Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov paid great attention to the city's social infrastructure and the metallurgical combine. During Filatov's leadership, nine kindergartens and nurseries, a new hospital building for the MMK medical unit; children's camps, a rest house, a sanatorium building in Yalta, children's health facilities; a dairy plant, a potato storage, a vegetable processing shop, a fruit storage facility were constructed.
Filatov issued a verbal order regarding housing distribution, now giving priority to families where both spouses worked at the
Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine. Changes in housing policy caused dissatisfaction among the city's residents, and metallurgists' spouses began to switch to less skilled work at MMK to improve their housing conditions.
Member of the
CPSU Central Committee since 1971. Deputy of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR
The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (SSUSSR) was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union (USSR) from 1936 to 1991. Based on the principle of unified power, it was the only branch of government in the S ...
XVIII convocation from 1970.
Death

In 1973, Filatov fell ill, and in June 1973 he went to Moscow for surgery.
However, due to a medical error, a thrombus detached. Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov died on 6 June 1973 in Moscow and was buried at the right-bank cemetery in Magnitogorsk.
Filatov was meticulous, extremely hardworking, and modest. He always spoke his mind, argued. At the same time, A. Filatov respected his opponents and was able to admit his mistakes. Andrey Dmitrievich had a phenomenal memory.
Legacy
Personal Responsibility. Documentary film (1972)
In 1974, the publishing house "Soviet Russia" released N. Kartashov's book "Comrade Director."
In 1979, the novel "In the Sweat of Thy Face" by Soviet writer
Alexander Ostapovich Avdeenko was published. The novel is dedicated to Magnitogorsk during the time of Filatov's management of the combine. The novel actively covers Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov's housing policy.
In 2000, the
Professional Lyceum №13 of Magnitogorsk (now
Magnitogorsk Polytechnic College) was named after Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov, who was a graduate. Notably, it was thanks to Filatov that this educational institution received its current building at the intersection of Karl Marx Avenue and Steelevare Street
In 2011, the second part of the duology by
Valery Nikolaevich Kucher, "Magnitka – Forever. Part 2. Affairs and Fates of Soviet Directors," was published. Chapter 6, part 1 "Audacity and Boldness of the Innovator" tells about the work of Andrey Dmitrievich Filatov as the director of MMK from 1968 to 1973.
Awards
*
Hero of Socialist Labour
The Hero of Socialist Labour () was an Title of honor, honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It represented the highest degree of distinction in the USSR and was awarded for exceptional achievem ...
(Decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet () was the standing body of the highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislative branch of the great Soviet ...
dated 30 March 1971,
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 ...
and gold
Hammer and sickle
The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...
) medal – ''for outstanding achievements reached in fulfilling the tasks of the five-year plan for the development of ferrous metallurgy''
* Laureate of the
State Prize of the USSR
The USSR State Prize () was one of the Soviet Union’s highest civilian honours, awarded from its establishment in September 1966 until the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. It recognised outstanding contributions in the fields of science, mathem ...
(1969
).
*
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 ...
* Two
Orders of the Badge of Honour
*
Medal "For Labour Valour"
The Medal "For Labour Valour" () was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union bestowed to especially deserving workers to recognise and honour dedicated and valorous labour or significant contributions in the fields of science, culture or t ...
*
References
Heroes of Socialist Labour
Soviet engineers
Engineers from Kharkiv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Filatov, Andrey Dmitrievich
1912 births
1973 deaths