Stakhanov, Aleksei

Stakhanov, Aleksei [Стаханов, Алексей; Staxanov, Aleksej], b 21 December 1905 in Lugova, Orel gubernia, Russia, d 5 November 1977 in Torez, Donetsk oblast. Miner. In 1927 he began working as a miner in Kadiivka (between 1978 and 2016 known as Stakhanov, in Luhansk oblast). In August 1935 he allegedly set a personal record by mining 102 t of coal in a single shift of 5 hours and 45 minutes, thereby overfulfilling his quota by a factor of 14.5. In September of that year he set another record by mining 227 t of coal. These deeds were carefully staged by the Communist Party authorities and used extensively in propaganda to raise labor productivity (see Socialist competition). Afterward Stakhanov completed his education and occupied management positions in mining in Central Asia and, from 1957, in the Donets Basin.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]