Sergey Yakovlevich Zhuk is one of the most famous engineers of hydraulic engineering. He was among the leaders of the largest "construction projects of communism". During his lifetime, Sergei Yakovlevich was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Childhood, adolescence
Sergei Yakovlevich Zhuk was born on March 23, 1892 in Kiev. In his hometown, he graduated from the second city gymnasium, and after the death of his father he studied at the Oryol Cadet Corps. The childhood of Sergei Yakovlevich was difficult. He was drawn to knowledge and understood that only a good education would help him achieve something in life.
After graduating from the cadet corps, Zhuk entered the Petrograd Institute of Civil Engineers, and a year later he transferred to the Petrograd Institute of Railway Engineers. With the advent of the First World War, Sergei Yakovlevich was transferred to a military institute due to the lack of officers. In 1916, he graduated from a military institution, and then successfully graduated from the Petrograd Institute in 1917.
The beetle took part in the Civil War. He began to fight on the side of the White Army, but after being in captivity, he fell under the influence of agitators and went over to the side of the Red Army.
Career
After the end of the war, Zhuk taught at the Kamenov military school, and then served in the artillery and infantry schools. In 1931, Sergei Yakovlevich worked as an engineer, after which he was transferred to the civil service. The beetle was distinguished by a firm character, exactingness towards himself and his subordinates. The people who worked with him spoke of his harshness and unscrupulousness. But Sergei Yakovlevich was an excellent specialist, and personal qualities were an additional plus in some situations. His career developed rapidly.
The high authorities saw a huge potential in Sergei Yakovlevich and he was sent to the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. There he quickly rose to the position of deputy chief engineer. Zhuk supervised the design of hydraulic structures that were erected along the canal route. In August 1933 he was awarded the Order of Lenin. Solzhenitsyn in his writings "The Gulag Archipelago" called the engineer "the chief overseer of Belomor" and blamed the death of a large number of people. This statement was disputed, but the writer refused to discuss this topic, remaining unconvinced.
After the completion of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Zhuk was sent to the construction site of the Moscow-Volga. He was appointed deputy chief engineer of the project and then promoted to chief engineer. In 1937, this object was put into operation and Sergei Yakovlevich was presented with a ZiS car for special merits. At that time, he was in very good standing with the country's top leadership. He was respected and appreciated as a specialist.
The following projects, in which Zhuk was directly involved and supervised their construction, were:
- Kuibyshev hydroelectric complex;
- HPP on Samarskaya Luka;
- Tsimlyanskaya HPP.
The construction of the Kuibyshev junction was of great economic importance for the country. The layout and designs of the building were presented at an exhibition in New York. But during its construction, we had to face many difficulties. Problems appeared both at the stage of preparation and during the construction process. The approvals were carried out slowly, there was not enough labor, but at the same time there were often downtime at the construction site, which was accompanied by large financial losses.
The first secretary of the Kuibyshev regional committee, Ignatov, wrote a letter to the top leaders, in which he outlined all the problems that arose during the construction. Ignatov said that the reason for the slow construction of the hydroelectric complex is that the chief engineer is almost never there, spends a lot of time in Moscow, and entrusts his work to people who are not competent in this matter.
After receiving such a report letter, Sergei Yakovlevich was severely reprimanded, but he was not removed from construction, but only transferred to the position of assistant chief engineer. After a while, it became clear that things were even worse with the new leader. All errors were taken into account, organizational issues related to approvals were eliminated, and after Zhuk was again appointed chief engineer, the hydroelectric complex was completed in record time.
Sergey Yakovlevich Zhuk was awarded a number of state awards and medals:
- Hero of Socialist Labor (1952);
- Stalin Prize, second degree (1950);
- Stalin Prize of the first degree (1952);
- Order of the Red Banner (1951).
The engineer was awarded the Order of Lenin 3 times. In 1948 he was recognized as an honored worker of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1942-1957 Zhuk was the director of the Hydroproject Institute. He became one of the initiators of the famous project of turning Siberian rivers to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. In 1943 he was promoted to the rank of Major General of the Engineering and Technical Troops. In 1953, a hydraulic engineer became an academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. On March 1, 1957, Sergei Yakovlevich died. His body was cremated, and an urn with ashes was placed in the Kremlin wall.
Personal life and memory
Little is known about the personal life of Sergei Yakovlevich. He was married and had two children in the marriage. The children later also became engineers. In honor of him, after his death, the ship "S. Ya. Zhuk" was named, the port of registration of which was Dneprodzerzhinsk. Since 1957, the Scientific Institute "Hydroproject" has been named after the great hydraulic engineer. In the city of Balakovo, Saratov region, there is a street named after academician Zhuk.
