Kalmykov, Valerii

Born Aug. 28, 1908, in Rostov-on-Don; died Mar. 22, 1974. Soviet statesman and economic figure; Hero of Socialist Labor (1961). Became a member of the CPSU in 1942. The son of a clerical worker.

Kalmykov began work in 1924 as an electrician. While working, he completed studies at the Rostov Industrial Technicum in 1929 and at the Moscow Institute of Power Engineering in 1934. From 1929 to 1933, Kalmykov worked at the MoskabeP Factory as a foreman and shop superintendent. Between 1935 and 1949 he held the positions of design engineer, chief designer, and director of a research institute. After 1949 he was engaged in economic and state management. From 1954 to 1957, Kalmykov was minister of the radio-engineering industry of the USSR. From 1957 to 1965 he was chairman of the State Committee on Radioelectronics of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, a ministerial post. After March 1965 he was minister of the radio-electronics industry of the USSR. At the Twentieth Congress of the CPSU in 1956, Kalmykov was elected a candidate member of the party’s Central Committee. He was elected a member of the Central Committee at the Twenty-second (1961), Twenty-third (1966), and Twenty-fourth (1971) Congresses of the party. Kalmykov was a deputy to the fifth through eighth convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He received the State Prize of the USSR in 1948 and 1952. He was awarded seven Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, and medals.