Leonid Vasil’evich Smirnov (3 April 1916 - 21 December 2001) was director of the the missile factory

Yuzhmash

The A.M. Makarov Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant, or PA Yuzhmash is a Ukrainian manufacturer of space rockets, agricultural equipment, buses, trolley buses and trams, wind turbines, and satellites...

 at Dnepropetrovsk in the late 1950s, developing strategic missiles for the defence of the USSR. In March 1963 he became Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, reporting to Minister of Defence Dmitriy Ustinov

Dmitriy Ustinov

Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov was Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death.-Early life:Dimitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family in Samara. During the civil war, when hunger became intolerable, his sick father went to Samarkand, leaving Dimitry as head...

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Early life

Smirnov was the son of a worker and was born on 3 April 1915 in Kuznetsk

Kuznetsk

Kuznetsk is a town in Penza Oblast, Russia, located east of Penza and west of Samara and the Volga River. Population: -External links:*...

, a town to the west of Samara

Samara

-Geography:*Samara Oblast, a federal subject of Russia*Samara, Russia, a city on the eastern bank of the Volga River, Russia*Samara Bend, the largest bend of the Volga River*Samara Reservoir, an informal name of Kuybyshev Reservoir on the Volga River...

, Russia, then part of Saratov province but now in Penza Oblast

Penza Oblast

-External links:* *...

. He began his working life as an electrician in 1930 in Rostov-on-Don

Rostov-on-Don

-History:The mouth of the Don River has been of great commercial and cultural importance since the ancient times. It was the site of the Greek colony Tanais, of the Genoese fort Tana, and of the Turkish fortress Azak...

.

He studied at the Novocherkassk Industrial Institute from 1933 to 1934 and graduated in 1939. Whilst studying, he worked from 1933 to 1930 in Novocherkassk

Novocherkassk

Novocherkassk is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. Population: 169,039 ; 170,822 ; 178,000 ; 123,000 ; 81,000 ; 52,000 ....

, first as a duty electrician and then as an electrical engineering inspector.

Ministry of Armaments of the USSR

Smirnov worked for the Ministry of Armaments of the USSR from 1939 to 1961:

• Between 1939 and 1948, he rose from deputy head of production, to deputy chief of power, to being head of the Novocherkassk steam electric power plant. Smirnov became a member of the communist party in 1943.
• From 1948 to 1949 he was at the Industry Academy of the Ministry of Armaments.
• From 1949 to 1951 he was director of the Central Research Institute of Automatics and Hydraulics of the Ministry of Armaments.
• From 1951 to 1952 he was head of rocket and space technology weapons of the Ministry of Armaments.
• From 1952 to March 1961 he was director of the Dnepropetrovsk Machine-Building Factory (Factory-586)
  Yuzhmash
  The A.M. Makarov Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant, or PA Yuzhmash is a Ukrainian manufacturer of space rockets, agricultural equipment, buses, trolley buses and trams, wind turbines, and satellites...
  
   - now called Yuzhmash. This enterprise started work on mass production of strategic military missiles in 1951, Once Smirnov was appointed in 1952, the factory began an active and hard work on the creation of 'vertical takeoff vehicles'. The first rockets completed were R-1 missiles
  R-1 (missile)
  The R-1 rocket was a copy of the German V-2 rocket manufactured by the Soviet Union. Even though it was a copy, it was manufactured using Soviet industrial plants and gave the Soviets valuable experience which later enabled the USSR to construct its own much more capable rockets.In 1945 the...
  
   assembled from components from other factories. But by November 1952 they were being mass-produced using components they made themselves. In 1953, the factory produced its first batch of liquid fuel rocket engines for anti-aircraft missiles, and completed the first fire tests of the engine. The factory was responsible for the beginning of series production of the R-12 missile; this was the missile used in the Cuban Missile Crisis
  Cuban Missile Crisis
  The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
  
  . On 10 July 1959 the factory was awarded the Order of Lenin for creating the R-12 missile. The first successful launch of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile
  R-16
  The R-16 was the first successful intercontinental ballistic missile deployed by the Soviet Union. In the West it was known by the NATO reporting name SS-7 Saddler, and within Russia, it carried the GRAU index 8K64.- Description :...
  
   took place on 2 February 1961. The factory did not just make missiles. It also made tractors; in 1954 for example it produced 6,500. It played an important role in the life of Dnepropetrovsk; for example in 1957, it opened the Palace of Culture.

Central government of the USSR

• From 1957 to 1961, he was head of the Central Board of the State Committee for Defense Technology.
• In March 1961 Smirnov became deputy chairman of the State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Defence Technology (GKOT);
• From 10 June 1961 to 13 March 1963 Smirnov was chairman of State Committee of the Council of Ministers of the USSR for Defence Technology with the rank of minister of the USSR.
• From 31 October 1961 to 25 February 1986 Smirnov was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
• From 13 March 1963 to 15 November 1985 he was deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

As deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers, he was chairman of the Military Industrial Commission (VPK)

Military-Industrial Commission of the USSR

The Military-Industrial Commission of the USSR or VPK served as a central management body for the Soviet defence industry from 1957 to 1991. The VPK was a Commission of the Presidium of of the Council of Ministers, and a deputy chairman of the Council headed it...

.

Smirnov retired in November 1985.

Party congresses of the CPSU

He was a delegate to the following:

• 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956.
• 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1961.
• 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
  The 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union took place in Moscow, RSFSR between 29 March and 8 April 1966. It was the first Congress during Leonid Brezhnev's leadership of the Party and state...
  
   in 1966.
• 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1971.
• 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1976.
• 26th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1981.

He was a deputy to the 6th-9th convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.

, reporting to Minister of Defence Dmitriy Ustinov

Dmitriy Ustinov

Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov was Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death.-Early life:Dimitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family in Samara. During the civil war, when hunger became intolerable, his sick father went to Samarkand, leaving Dimitry as head...

.

Smirnov was made a Hero of Socialist Labour, and awarded the Lenin Prize

Lenin Prize

The Lenin Prize was one of the most prestigious awards of the USSR, presented to individuals for accomplishments relating to science, literature, arts, architecture, and technology. It was created on June 23, 1925 and was awarded until 1934. During the period from 1935 to 1956, the Lenin Prize was...

 in 1960, three Orders of Lenin, two other orders, and various medals.

Text from russian wikipedia - needs checking and incorporating

Leonid Smirnov was born in 1916 in the town of Kuznetsk, Saratov (now Penza ) of a working class family. Here, he graduated from the school number 1.

He graduated from the evening division of Novocherkassk Industrial Institute in 1939 year. In 1949 he graduated from the Academy of the Ministry of Industry of the USSR weapons.

During World War II was preparing weapons for the army.

Career:

1930-1933 - student of trade schools, electrician in Rostov-on-Don
1934-1948 - the duty electrician, inspector elektronadzoru, engineer, deputy head of production, the deputy chief power, combined heat and power head, the chief power engineer of the Novocherkassk plant of mining equipment.
1949-1951 - Director, Central Research Institute of Automatics and Hydraulics of the Ministry of arms of the USSR.
1951-1952 - Head of rocket and space technology arms of the Ministry of the USSR.
1952-1957 - director of the Dnepropetrovsk Machine-Building Plant .
1957-1961 - Head of State Committee of the Council of Ministers of Defense Technology.
1961-1963 - Chairman of the State Council of Ministers for Defence Technology - Minister of USSR.
1963-1985 - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers for Defence Industries, Chairman of the Military-Industrial Commission, the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
Since November 1985, he was retired.
He died in Leonid Smirnov, 2001 in Moscow.

Party congresses of the CPSU :

1961 year - XXII Congress
1966 year - XXIII Congress
1971 year - XXIV Congress
1976 year - XXV Congress
1981 year - XXVI Congress.

[ edit ] Memory

In 1980 , when the town of Kuznetsk observed its 200th anniversary, LV Smirnov arrived in the city of Kuznetsk, give the order "Badge of Honor." August 3, 1985 in the city held a solemn meeting, dedicated to the discovery of the bust twice Hero of Socialist Labor, deputy chairman of the Board Ministers of the USSR Leonid Vasilyevich Smirnov. Monument-bust was installed at the intersection of Lenin and Darwin, close to the 1 st school, where he studied.
[ edit ] Awards

Winner of the Lenin Prize ( 1960 )
twice Hero of Socialist Labor ( 1961 , 1982 )
six Orders of Lenin ,
Order of Red Banner of Labor ,
Order of the Red Star .