Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Malyshev (; 3 December 1902 — 20 February 1957) 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 ...

politician and an engineer who was one of the senior program managers in the Soviet program of nuclear weapons during the 1940s and 1950s. He was instrumental in militarizing the

Soviet space program The Soviet space program () was the state space program of the Soviet Union, active from 1951 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, the European Space Agency in Western Euro ...

while he also played a crucial role in Russian development of the nuclear submarines for the former

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

. Malyshev died in

1957 Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricke ...

, aged 54.

Early life

Malyshev was born on 16 December 1902 in Ust'-Sysol'sk,

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 ...

, the son of teachers Alexander Nikolaevich Malyshev and Elena Konstantinovna Popova. He has one brother, A. Aleksandrovich Malyshev. The family moved to

Velikiye Luki Velikiye Luki ( rus, Вели́кие Лу́ки, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪjə ˈlukʲɪ; lit. ''great meanders''. Г. П. Смолицкая. "Топонимический словарь Центральной России". "Армада-� ...

in 1904 after Malyshev's father accepted another teaching job. Between 1918 and 1920, he worked as a secretary for Velikiye Luki's People's Court. In 1920, he began attending the Railway Technology School in town and working as a locksmith at a railway depot in Podmoskovye. After graduating in 1924, he worked as a locksmith, mechanic, machinist, and steam locomotive driver. In 1926, he joined 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 ...

and shortly afterwards was drafted into 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 ...

, where he served for a year as the secretary for the base's All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. After his discharge from the Red Army in 1927, he worked as a driver at a depot near

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Engineering and political career

He graduated from

Bauman Moscow State Technical University The Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU; ), sometimes colloquially referred as the ''Bauman School'' or ''Baumanka'' (), is a public technical university (Institute of technology, polytechnic) located in Moscow, Russia. Bauman Univ ...

in 1934 and began working at the Kuybyshev Locomotive Factory, where he moved from designer to director in under five years. Other jobs he held during this time were instructor and mechanic. In 1939, Malyshev was appointed to the Ministry of Heavy Machine Building but turned down the role, saying he was not yet ready. Instead, he was assigned to the People's Commissariat of Medium Engineering, later identified by the American intelligence as lead agency overseeing the Soviet program of nuclear weapons. He took on the role of Deputy Chairman of the

Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union The Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union was the highest collegial body of executive and administrative authority of the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1946. As the government of the Soviet Union, the Council of People's Commissars of ...

in 1940 as well. In 1943, he was appointed to the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry. He had jokingly been called the "Prince of Tankograd" for a number of years because of the engineering progress he made. In 1945, he was named a Colonel General of Engineering and Technical Services and headed the People's Commissariat of Transport Engineering, where he stayed until 1947. From 1947 to early 1953, he headed the State Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers (NKVD) on new technology, and from late 1953 to 1956, he served as the Deputy President of the (NKVD). In 1948, he became the Head of the NKVD and the Chariaman of the USSR State Engineering Committee. By 1950, he was the Minister of the USSR Shipbuilding Industry. Between October 1952 and March 1953, he was a member of the 19th

Presidium A presidium or praesidium is a council of executive officers in some countries' political assemblies that collectively administers its business, either alongside an individual president or in place of one. The term is also sometimes used for the ...

of the Central Party. Afterwards, he was briefly part of Transport and Heavy Engineering before moving back to Medium Engineering. He was a favorite of Stalin's and was called upon frequently for counsel. After Stalin's death in 1953, Malyshev's job titles changed several times and was suspected to have become the Chief of the Soviet Atomic Energy Commission after for a period. He did, at some point, head the nuclear program alongside

Boris Vannikov Boris Lvovich Vannikov (; 26 August 1897 – 22 February 1962), was a Soviet politician and a political commissar of Azerbaijani Jewish origin who was one of the senior program managers in the Soviet program of nuclear weapons. Biography Bor ...

. He was among the engineers that built the Soviet's first

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...

. In the mid-1950s, he headed a committee to investigate the explosion that destroyed the ''Novorossiysk'', an Italian battleship the Soviets commandeered after World War II despite Malyshev's attempts to convince Stalin not to take it on in 1946. This was used as an excuse to prevent Nikolai Kuznetsov, who opposed

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 idea of a submarine-based navy, from commanding the

Red Fleet The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with the opposi ...

and replace him with

Sergey Gorshkov Sergey Georgyevich Gorshkov (; 26 February 1910 – 13 May 1988) was an admiral of the fleet of the Soviet Union. Twice awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, he oversaw the expansion of the Soviet Navy into a global force during the Cold ...

, who was much more obedient to the premier's wishes. In 1957, he was again the Minister of Machine Building and the former

First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union The first deputy premier of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Despite the title, the office was not always held by a single individual. The office bore three different titles thr ...

Death

There were reports in February 1957 of a "mystery patient" or "Patient X" who was treated by a German blood specialist; his identity as Malyshev was secret until his death within the month. ''The New York Times'' reported his cause of death as leukemia but he ultimately died of

acute radiation syndrome Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start wit ...

after inspecting a Soviet nuclear plant before it was safe to do so. His ashes are buried at the

Kremlin Wall Necropolis The Kremlin Wall Necropolis is the former national cemetery of the Soviet Union, located in Red Square in Moscow beside the Moscow Kremlin Wall, Kremlin Wall. Burials there began in November 1917, when 240 pro-Bolsheviks who died during the Mosc ...

Awards

He was a Laureate of the

USSR State Prize 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 ...

for overseeing the first nuclear and hydrogen charges, the first nuclear power plant, the first nuclear ship, and the first satellite of the Earth. He received the

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 ...

Award for his work on tanks in 1944. He was awarded with 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 ...

on 16 December 1952. He received the State Stalin Prize twice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malyshev, Vyacheslav 1902 births 1957 deaths Soviet colonel generals Deputy heads of government of the Soviet Union Members of the Presidium of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Members of the Central Committee of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Members of the Central Committee of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union Heroes of Socialist Labour Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Stalin Prize Deaths by acute radiation syndrome