Vasily Prokhorovich Pronin (; 25 December 1905 – 12 October 1993) was a

Soviet 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 ...

statesman and chairman of the executive committee of the Moscow City Council of Laborers' Deputies (today's equivalent of

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

) between 14 April 1939 and 7 December 1944.

Life and career

Vasily Pronin was born into a peasant family in the village of Pavlovo in

Yegoryevsky Uyezd Yegoryevsky Uyezd (''Его́рьевский уе́зд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Ryazan Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northwestern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Yegoryevsk. Demogra ...

. As a young man, he earned his living by working as a farm laborer, repairman at the Nizhny Novgorod Railway, switcher at the

Moscow Railway Moscow Railway () is a subsidiary of Russian Railways that handles half of Russia's suburban railway operations and a quarter of the country's passenger traffic. As of 2009 the railway, which has its headquarters near Komsomolskaya Square in Mosc ...

, and factory

turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

. In 1925, Pronin joined the ranks of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and engaged himself in

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 ...

and party activities. Later on he graduated from the

Institute of Red Professors The Institute of Red Professors of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) () was an institute of graduate-level education in the Marxist social sciences located in the Orthodox Convent of the Passion, Moscow. History It was founded in February 1 ...

and moved to

Tuva Tuva (; ) or Tyva (; ), officially the Republic of Tyva,; , is a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia. Tuva lies at the geographical center of Asia, in southern Siberia. The republic borders the Federal subjects of Russia, federal sub ...

on a party assignment. In 1938, Vasily Pronin was appointed secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party and then became chairman of the executive committee of the Moscow City Council in April 1939. Vasily Pronin contributed significantly to the fulfillment of the General Plan for the Reconstruction of Moscow. In 1939–1940, they rid the capital of seasonality in housing development, introduced the method of rapid-flow construction, and commenced large-scale multi-story housing development throughout the city. By 1941, they had constructed 13 massive bridges and 45 km of granite embankments and doubled the capacity of water-supply network. Under Pronin's supervision, they strengthened the capital's

anti-aircraft defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-bas ...

, built and reinforced

bomb shelter A bomb shelter is a structure designed to provide protection against the effects of a bomb. Types of shelter Different kinds of bomb Shelter (building), shelters are configured to protect against different kinds of attack and strengths of host ...

s, adjusted the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...

for the needs of sheltering of population in case of air raids, and conducted

civil defense Civil defense or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from human-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency management: Risk management, prevention, mitigation, prepara ...

drills around the city. In the summer of 1940, Vasily Pronin was 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 ...

for his success in constant developing and improvement of the municipal services of Moscow. From the first days of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

, Moscow City Council and its executive committee aimed all of its efforts at the

mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

, reserve training for 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 ...

, and translation of the

State Defense Committee The State Defense Committee () was an extraordinary organ of state power in the Soviet Union during the German-Soviet War, also called the Great Patriotic War, with complete state power in the country. General scope The Soviets set up the GKO ...

’s decisions into production of ammunition, weapons, and military outfit. They rebuilt the defense industry in Moscow after the evacuation of several factories inland. By the early December 1940, 654 factories out of 670 in direct subordination to the Moscow City Council had already been producing ammunition and weapons. Vasily Pronin personally participated in coordination of work of 50 factories, producing components for the Katyusha multiple rocket launchers and ammunition. In August 1941, they completed the government contract in record short time and sent the first sets of the ''Katyushas'' to the front. Also, Pronin took part in organizing

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

s and other volunteer formations, evacuating equipment and people, constructing a fortified belt along the distant approaches and outskirts of Moscow, and improving the anti-aircraft defense. Vasily Pronin was also in charge of the

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

of Moscow, most of which would have been blown up in case of German occupation. As a member of the Military Council of the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

and Moscow Zone of Defense, Vasily Pronin together with the first secretary of the Moscow City Council and Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party Alexander Shcherbakov rendered great assistance to the State Defense Committee and Western Front command in organizing the defense of the capital in the fall and winter of 1941. In late 1944, Pronin was appointed first deputy chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR. Later in his life, he held different posts, such as deputy minister and minister of several all-union and republican ministries. Vasily Pronin was elected deputy 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 ...

and RSFSR and member of the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union 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 ...

. In 1957, Vasily Pronin was forced to retire at the age of 52 as a result of

Nikita Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Chai ...

's campaign to purge the party of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's associates. He died in 1993 in Moscow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pronin, Vasily 1905 births 1993 deaths People from Yegoryevsky Uyezd Institute of Red Professors alumni Chairpersons of the Executive Committee of Mossovet Second convocation members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 1938–1947 People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Friendship of Peoples Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Russian mechanical engineers Soviet mechanical engineers Burials at Kuntsevo Cemetery