Mariya Andriivna Orlyk (; 15 May 1930 – 2 December 2022) was a Ukrainian teacher and
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
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 ...
politician. She began teaching in the village called
Zolotnyky in the
Ternopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast (), also referred to as Ternopilshchyna () or Ternopillia (), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its Capital (political), administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret (river), Seret, a tribu ...
following her graduation from the Faculty of History of the . in 1953. Orlyk taught history and was headmaster of the rural Zolotnikovskaya Secondary School. She served as a Deputy of the
Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR
The Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (; ) was the Supreme Soviet, supreme soviet (main Legislature, legislative institution) and the highest organ of state power of Ukraine when it was known as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukra ...
between 1975 and 1989 and was deputy chair of the
Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR
Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic () was the highest executive and administrative body of state power of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, government (1946–1991). The council replaced the Council of People's C ...
from April 1978 to 1990.
Orlyk was a member of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine from 1981 and was an elected deputy of the
Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union () was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.
Background
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union was created as part of Mikhail Gorbachev ...
from women's councils united by the
Committee of Soviet Women between 1989 and 1991. She has been decorated with the
Order of the Badge of Honour
The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union.
It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...
, 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 ...
, the
Honored Worker of Culture of the Ukrainian SSR, all three classes of the
Order of Princess Olga
The Order of Princess Olga () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian civil decoration, featuring Olga of Kiev and bestowed to women for "personal merits in state, production, scientific, educational, cultural, charity and other spheres of social activities, fo ...
and the
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class.
Early life
Orlyk was born in the village of Kosishchevo in the
Monastyrshchinsky District
Monastyrshchinsky District () is an administrativeResolution #261 and municipalLaw #89-z district (raion), one of the twenty-five in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the west of the oblast and borders with Smolensky District in the north ...
,
[ (today in the ]Smolensk Oblast
Smolensk Oblast (), informally also called Smolenshchina (), is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Smolensk. As of the 2021 Russ ...
) in Russia on 15 March 1930. She was the daughter of Russian working-class parents Andrii Mykytovych Isakov and Yevgenia Trifonovna,[ and has one elder brother.][ Orlyk and her family relocated to the ]Kirovohrad Oblast
Kirovohrad Oblast (), also known as Kirovohradshchyna (), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (''province'') in central Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Kropyvnytskyi. The oblast's population is It is ...
in 1933,[ in , which was where her maternal uncle resided.][ They fled from hunger that came as a result of the ]Soviet famine of 1930–1933
The Soviet famine of 1930–1933 was a famine in the major grain-producing areas of the Soviet Union, including Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukraine and different parts of Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russia, including ...
. Both her parents found employment in their new place of residence of Kirovograd where they settled in 1935. She completed three classes at the school ZOSH No. 3 named after Olena Zhurliva prior to the Great Patrotic War. From 1949 to 1953, she attended the Faculty of History of the .
Career
Following her graduation in 1953,[ having mastered Ukrainian and the only one fluent in the language,][ Orlyk was sent to the village of Zolotnyky in the ]Ternopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast (), also referred to as Ternopilshchyna () or Ternopillia (), is an Oblasts of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its Capital (political), administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret (river), Seret, a tribu ...
.[ She began to teach history and later became headmaster of the local rural school called the Zolotnikovskaya Secondary School.][ Orlyk served as a history educator at Volodarskaya Evening School for working youth in the ]Kyiv Oblast
Kyiv Oblast (, ), also called Kyivshchyna (, ), is an Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) in central and northern Ukraine. It surrounds, but does not include, the city of Kyiv, which is administered as a city with special sta ...
from 1956 to 1957. She was also head of the Cabinet of Political Education at Volodar District Committee. From 1960, Orlyk became the deputy head of the Department of Kyiv's OK KPU and was appointed deputy head of the Kyiv City's executive committee in 1971.[
She became a member of the ]Communist Party of the Soviet Union
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 ...
in 1955 and was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) from 1981, having been a candidate member for the preceding five years. From 1975 to 1989, Orlyk served as a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR
The Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR (; ) was the Supreme Soviet, supreme soviet (main Legislature, legislative institution) and the highest organ of state power of Ukraine when it was known as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukra ...
, serving three four-term terms in its ninth to eleventh convocations after being selected to stand by the CPU. She was the elected chair of the Presidium of Ukrainian Friendship and Cultures between 1975 and 1978, which worked in cooperation with other friendship societies in more than 100 countries.[ Orlyk was, for 12 years, deputy chair of the ]Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR
Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic () was the highest executive and administrative body of state power of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, government (1946–1991). The council replaced the Council of People's C ...
from April 1978 to 1990. Her duties entailed the activities of the education ministries, culture, health care, social security, all humanitarian state committees, creative unions and multiple organisational committees.[ In 1990, she became the first member of government in Ukrainian history to tender her resignation voluntarily because of her long tenure in the post and her husband having a stroke.][ Orlyk was an elected deputy of the ]Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union () was the highest body of state authority of the Soviet Union from 1989 to 1991.
Background
The Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union was created as part of Mikhail Gorbachev ...
from women's councils united by the Committee of Soviet Women between 1989 and 1991. She served on the USSR Supreme Soviet Committee for Women, Family Protection, Motherhood and Childhood.[ In 2002, Orlyk was shortlisted by the second congress of the nationwide Ukrainian political association Women for the Future as a candidate for election to the ]Verkhovna Rada
The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...
in the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2002.Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1976 The Our Ukraine–People's Self-Defense Bloc, Our Ukraine bloc emerged as the largest faction in ...
.
Orlyk accompanied Pat Nixon
Thelma Catherine "Pat" Nixon (; March 16, 1912 – June 22, 1993) was First Lady of the United States from 1969 to 1974 as the wife of President Richard Nixon. She also served as the Second ladies and gentlemen of the United States, second lady ...
, the First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is a title typically held by the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never been Code of law, codified or offici ...
, when she and her husband, Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
, the President of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
, visited Kyiv in 1972.[ Orlyk later went to the 25th session of the ]United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its Seventy-ninth session of th ...
in New York, United States of America as part of a Ukrainian delegation.[ She was the head of the Ukrainian delegation to the second World Conference on Women in Copenhagen in 1980 and the third World Conference on Women in Nairobi in 1985.][ On 3 May 1986, Orlyk became responsible or the socio-cultural sphere, the safety of children and schoolchildren in the aftermath of the ]Chernobyl disaster
On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...
.[ She became head of the , an association of citizens, in 1991, promoting the preservation of peace, harmony in society, Ukraine's independence and the social protection of women in market relations conditions.][ In 1995, Orlyk was head of the delegation of Ukrainian non-governmental women's organisations at the World Conference on Women in Beijing.][ She was the head of a Ukrainian government commission to seek traces of the library of ]Yaroslav the Wise
Yaroslav I Vladimirovich ( 978 – 20 February 1054), better known as Yaroslav the Wise, was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 until his death in 1054. He was also earlier Prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1034 and Prince of Rostov from 987 to 1010, ...
in Mezhyhirya,[ and took part in the building of the Ukrainian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" memorial complex.][ In 2001, Orlyk was editor of the encyclopedia ''Women in Ukraine''.][ She published the photo book ''Незабутнє'' at her friend's insistence in 2010.]
Personal life
For 37 years,[ she was married to the professor Petro Ivanovich Orlyk.][ They are the parents of one child.][
]
Awards
Orlyk received the Order of the Badge of Honour
The Order of the Badge of Honour () was a civilian award of the Soviet Union.
It was established on 25 November 1935, and was conferred on citizens of the USSR for outstanding achievements in sports, production, scientific research and socia ...
in 1971.[ She was awarded 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 ...
in 1980.[ The following year, Orlyk was made an Honored Worker of Culture of the Ukrainian SSR,][ and received a .][ She has received all three classes of the ]Order of Princess Olga
The Order of Princess Olga () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian civil decoration, featuring Olga of Kiev and bestowed to women for "personal merits in state, production, scientific, educational, cultural, charity and other spheres of social activities, fo ...
from 1997 to 2005.[ She was appointed to the Order's Third degree in 1997, was upgraded to the Second Degree in 2000,][ and finally the First Degree on 3 March 2005. On 16 January 2009, Orlyk became a recipient of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orlyk, Mariya
1930 births
2022 deaths
20th-century Ukrainian educators
20th-century Ukrainian women politicians
21st-century Ukrainian educators
21st-century Ukrainian women politicians
People from Smolensk Oblast
Ukrainian people of Russian descent
Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Soviet Union) members
Communist Party of the Soviet Union members
First deputy chairpersons of the Council of Ministers of Ukraine
Ninth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Tenth convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Eleventh convocation members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
Members of the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of the Badge of Honour
Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga, 2nd class
Recipients of the Order of Princess Olga, 3rd class
Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Soviet schoolteachers
Soviet women in politics
Ukrainian schoolteachers
Ukrainian women educators