Valentina Semyonovna Khetagurova (; 1914–1992), was a founder of the Khetagurova movement (Khetagurovite Campaign), a member of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union 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 So ...

for the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

Biography

Valentina Zarubina was born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in 1914. In 1932, when she was seventeen, she enlisted to work on the De-Kastri Fortified district in the Far Eastern Federal District, where she worked as a draughtswoman. There, she became the leader of the

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 ...

cell, and became involved in the fight against illiteracy and in organizing the weekly day off. Working with the women in the cell, she helped to improve daily life, including the soldiers' food and arranging leisure activities. In 1936, for her work in Siberia, she was awarded with the

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour () was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to the Soviet state and society in the fields of production, science, culture, literature, the arts, education, sports ...

. She was awarded a gold watch by

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...

, the People's Commissioner for Defense of the USSR. The following year she was elected to the

. Khetagurova died in 1992. She is buried in Moscow in the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

Khetagurovite Campaign

In 1937, Khetagurova wrote a letter to the newspaper

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

calling for women to volunteer to work in the Far East. During the construction of

Komsomolsk-on-Amur Komsomolsk-on-Amur ( rus, Комсомольск-на-Амуре, r=Komsomolsk-na-Amure, p=kəmsɐˈmolʲsk nɐ‿ɐˈmurʲə) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Khabarovsk Krai, Russia, located on the west bank of the Amur R ...

, the population included 6,000 male workers for every 30 women. When it was completed there were 300 men to every 3 women. Thousands of women responded to Khetagurova's call, and the movement was known as Хетагуровское движение (Khetagourovskoe dviznenie, ), and the members of the movement were known as Хетагуровски (khetagourovki, ). By the autumn of 1937, approximately 11,500 women arrived in the Far East.

Personal life

Khetagurova married the commander of the Red Army Georgy Khetagurov. She had 3 children.

Legacy

In 1937, Yevgeny Petrov wrote ''Young Patriots'', devoted to Khetagurova and the movement she organized.

Isaak Dunayevsky Isaak Osipovich Dunayevsky ( ; also transliterated as Dunaevski or Dunaevskiy; 25 July 1955) was a Soviet film composer and conductor of the 1930s and 1940s, who composed music for operetta and film comedies, frequently working with the film dire ...

wrote a song dedicated to the Khetagurova movement and movement appears in a poem by Yevgeniy Dolmatovsky. A street in the town of Komsomolsk-on-Amur bears her name.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khetagurova, Valentina 1914 births 1992 deaths Politicians from Saint Petersburg Soviet women in politics Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour First convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery