Dmitry Ustinov is a Soviet military leader and statesman. Marshal of the Soviet Union was awarded a huge number of awards and was called the last defender of socialism.
Childhood, adolescence
Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov was born in Samara in 1908. The future marshal grew up in a very simple family. His father was a worker and at the age of 10 the boy had to work to help his parents. At the age of 14, he served in the military-party detachments in Samarkand, created at the factory party cells.
At the age of 15, Ustinov volunteered for the Turkmenistan regiment and fought with the Basmachi. After demobilization, Dmitry Fedorovich decided to continue his education and entered a vocational school. Having trained as a locksmith, he first went to work at a paper mill, and then at a textile factory. In the city of Ivanovo (then Ivanovo-Voznesensk), he decided to get a higher education, but on the job. Ustinov entered the correspondence department of the Polytechnic University. The active young man was noticed and accepted into the Politburo, a little later entrusted to lead the Komsomol organization.
In 1930, the future Minister of War of the country was sent to study at the Moscow Military Mechanical Institute, and then transferred to a higher educational institution in Leningrad, where he continued his education in the same profile.
Career
Since 1937, Dmitry Ustinov began working as a designer at the Bolshevik plant and rapidly moved up the career ladder, eventually taking the position of director.
When the war began, Ustinov was appointed People's Commissar for Armaments of the USSR. The appointment took place on the personal initiative of Lavrenty Beria. Dmitry Fedorovich worked as People's Commissar until 1946. During the war, arms production was one of the country's top priorities. Ustinov headed a team of talented engineers, designers, production directors. He proved to be a talented leader.
Since 1946, Ustinov served as the Minister of Armaments of the USSR. While in this post, he brought to life the idea of Soviet rocketry. In 1953 he was transferred to head the Ministry of Defense Industry. He headed this industry until 1957. During this time, the country's defense complex was modernized, a unique air defense system of the capital was developed. Under Ustinov, military science developed rapidly.
From 1957 to 1963, Dmitry Fedorovich headed the Commission of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers, and for the next 2 years was appointed deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers. Ustinov was distinguished by his extraordinary capacity for work. He only had enough sleep a few hours a day. He could hold meetings late into the night. In this mode, Dmitry Fedorovich lived for decades and at the same time retained good spirits.
In 1976, Ustinov headed the Defense Ministry of the Soviet Union and worked in this position until the end of his life. Dmitry Fedorovich was a member of the "small" Politburo of the USSR along with the most influential people of that time. At its meetings, the most important decisions were made, which were then approved by the official composition of the Politburo.
During the period of service, Dmitry Fedorovich was awarded the following ranks:
- Lieutenant General of the Engineering and Artillery Service (1944);
- Colonel General of the Engineering and Artillery Service (1944);
- General of the Army (1976);
- Marshal of the Soviet Union (1976).
Ustinov was awarded the highest state awards:
- Hero of the Soviet Union (1978);
- twice Hero of Socialist Labor;
- Order of Suvorov;
- Order of Kutuzov.
Dmitry Fedorovich was awarded 11 Orders of Lenin and 17 medals of the USSR.
Personal life
In the personal life of the marshal, everything was orderly. He lived with his only wife until the end of his life. Taisiya Alekseevna gave birth to a son and a daughter. Ustinov's son followed in his father's footsteps and worked for the country's defense industry, wrote many scientific works. Daughter Vera chose a completely different direction. She sang in the State Choir. A. V. Sveshnikova, and also taught vocals at the conservatory.
Dmitry Fdorovich died in December 1984. This event coincided with the end of the military maneuvers of the armies of the countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact. Following Ustinov, there were no defense ministers of the GDR, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Some even associated a series of losses with the fall of the socialist system in the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries. By the end of his life, Ustinov was already a deeply sick person who had undergone several operations. Marshal survived a heart attack and fought for a long time with cancer, but died of a transient pneumonia.
Dmitry Fyodorovich was taken on his last journey with all the honors, and the urn with the ashes was placed in the wall of the Kremlin. People who had to work with him remembered him as a talented engineer, competent and tough, but fair boss. Ustinov made a great contribution to the victory over fascism, to the development of the country's defense industry. Dmitry Fedorovich loved to study. Even while in high government posts, he did not hesitate to undergo training and persuaded his subordinates to do this.
In 1984 the city of Izhevsk was renamed Ustinov. But on this occasion there was a lot of controversy and the townspeople were not happy with such innovations. After 3 years, the city was returned to its former name. At the same time, the name of the Marshal of the Soviet Union was given to the Leningrad Mechanical Institute.
