Pavlyna Shapovalenko (; 11 September 1949 – 27 April 2020) was a Ukrainian milk machine operator who worked in

Tiachiv Tiachiv (, ; ; ; ) is a city located on the Tisza River in Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Tiachiv Raion (district). Today, the population is Names There are several alternative names used for ...

later the

Sumy Raion Sumy Raion () is a raion (district) in Sumy Oblast in central Ukraine. The administrative center of the raion is the city of Sumy, which was formerly administratively incorporated as a city of oblast significance until 2020. Population: On 18 ...

. She worked on state farms during her life and worked to maximise productivity of the animals on the farm and collected a large amount of milk from cows. Shapovalenko received the government issued

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 1973, 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 ...

in 1977, and was made a

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

in 2001.

Biography

On 11 September 1949, Shapovalenko was born in the village of , in the district of

Zakarpattia Oblast Zakarpattia Oblast (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпатська область), also referred to as simply Zakarpattia (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Закарпаття; Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''Kárpátalja'') or Transcar ...

. She graduated from the Vonigiv eight-year school in 1964. According to her, she became interested in science after reading about record-setting milkmaid Maria Savchenko in a newspaper. Spahovalenko began working at the state farm called Ilyich's Testament as a milkmaid when she was fourteen years old. During this time, she became well known in the local area and achieved the record of becoming the first milkmaid to extract of milk from a single cow per year. Shapovalenko would later work on the Verkhovyna state farm in the Vonihiv branch between 1966 and 1969. She relocated to the village of in the

, located in the

Sumy Oblast Sumy Oblast (), also known as Sumshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in northeast Ukraine. The oblast was created in its modern-day form, from the merging of raions from Kharkiv Oblast, Chernihiv Oblast, and Poltava Oblast in 1939 by the Presid ...

in 1969. Shapovalenko had planned to live in the village on a seasonal basis but she remained there for the rest of her life. She was employed as a milking machine operator on the dairy farm of the collective farm called "May Day" (today the agricultural production cooperative "Agrofirm" May Day). Shapovalenko assisted in helping the farm to raise heifers for the group she worked with and was able to milk a firstborn. She worked to maximise the productivity of the animals on the farm. She was one of the first people in the Sumy Raion to collect then of milk from cows annually. In 1973, Shapovlaneko received the government issued

and the

four years later. She milked a total of as well as from a single cow in 2000. Shapovlaneko was made a

by president

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

in November 2001 "For many years of selfless work in agriculture, the achievement of the highest rates in the region on milk yield". During her life, she had collected approximately of milk. On three occasions, she was elected to serve as a deputy on the regional council. Upon her retiring, Shapovlaneko opened a school for milkmaids, and attracts breeders from not just the Sumy Raion but also from other neighbouring districts and obalsts. She was the organiser and honorary president of a club called six thousand. She was married to the animal husbandry worker Mikhail Ivanovich, with whom she had two children. Shapovalenko died on 27 April 2020 and was buried in the village of Velyki Vilmy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapovalenko, Pavlyna 1949 births 2020 deaths People from Zakarpattia Oblast 20th-century Ukrainian women 21st-century Ukrainian women Ukrainian women farmers Ukrainian farmers Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine Soviet farmers 20th-century women farmers