Mikhail Kalinin (1875–1946) was a Russian revolutionary, a Soviet statesman, and a party leader. In 1944, he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.
Mikhail Kalinin was born on November 7 (19), 1875, in the village of Verkhnyaya Troitsa of the Tver Province.
During the February Revolution of 1917, he was one of the leaders of the seizure of the Finland Station and liberation of political prisoners from the Kresty Prison. Afterwards, he became the Chairman of the Petrograd City Council. From March of 1919 to July of 1938, he was the Chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
In 1919–1920, he traveled over all fronts by the October Revolution propaganda train. He was given the honorary unofficial title of “All-Russian Starosta,” which later became “All-Union Starosta.”
In 1921–1923, he was the Chairman of the Central Commission to Aid the Starving and the Central Commission for the Struggle against Consequences of the Famine of 1921 under the All-Russian Central Executive Committee.
After the establishment of the Soviet Union, he was the Chairman of the Central Election Commission of the USSR (1922–1938), the Chairman of the Down with Illiteracy Society (1923–1936) and the Chairman of the Politburo Commission of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks for the preparation and consideration of issues of nation building in the national regions of the RSFSR (since 1926).
In 1936, he was a Deputy Chairman of the constitutional commission and participated in drafting of the new Constitution of the USSR. He was the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from 1938 to 1946.
The postage stamp features a portrait of Mikhail Kalinin against the backdrop of a map of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics with silhouettes of people symbolizing M. Kalinin's activities as the “All-Union Starosta”.
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114 × 162 mm |