According to the popular legend, the most famous miner of the Soviet Union was forced to change the name due to a curious mistake in the central newspaper. We checked if it was true.

Here's what this story reports "RIA Novosti": “Andrei Stakhanov woke up famous 75 years ago, on the morning of August 31, 1935. <...> About the pre -planned feat of the worker, who allegedly personally obtained 102 tons of coal instead of the set seven, the Pravda newspaper immediately trimmed. But in the telegram from the mine the full name of the hero was not indicated, but only the initial “A.”. The journalists, without thinking twice, decided that his name was Alexei. When the error became clear, Comrade Stalin said: "The newspaper" Pravda "cannot be mistaken." The ascetic had to change his passport and turn into Alexei. As he reacted to this, he remained unknown, and again no one asked him. Well, at least they did not replace the name with a number, as prisoners of the Stalinist camps. From that well -prepared feat, the Stakhanov movement began. Our hero continued to beat records, and his assistants still remained nameless. ”

Famous Soviet journalist Yaroslav Golovanov in his "Notes of your contemporary" confirms The legend, but gives a different quote from Stalin: "Alexey ... a beautiful Russian name ... I like." With certain details, this story is also reported BBC, Lenta.ru And "Moscow 24". On "Ramblera" It is specified that Stakhanov was called either Andrei or Alexander.

Let us leave aside the artificiality of the records of Stakhanov or his broken life - they require a separate detailed investigation. We are purely interested in the question of changing the name.

It is unnecessary to say that after his record A. G. Stakhanov (let's call him so for correctness) became a cult person. In Soviet times, dozens were written about him books And hundreds are published interview, and the miner himself was noted memoirs. However, in them the issue of a forced change of name was not addressed. This is understandable-if the authority of Stalin in the last years of the Hero of Socialist Labor (Stakhanov died in 1977) was put under serious doubts, then the Renoma of the newspaper Pravda, the main body of the Soviet press, could not be omitted.

“Gazeta.Ru” notes that the same note in Pravda, which changed the life of the miner, was released “a couple of days later” after his impressive achievement and was called the “Record of the slaughterhouse of Stakhanov”. Indeed, on the last page of Pravda for September 2, 1935 there is a small note:

As you can see, in it the record hold is simply called “Comrade. Stakhanov ”, without a name. It turns out that if Stakhanova “renamed” the article in Pravda, then at least not the first.

In 2012, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the death of Alexei Stakhanov, the Ukrainian newspaper Today contacted his daughter Violetta. Among other things, the journalist touched on the question of the father’s replacement. Violetta Stakhanova was born in 1940, so she was not witnessed by famous events, but this is what she answered: “At home I never heard someone to call him Andrei. When we came to his homeland in the Oryol province, the sisters always called Father Lyoshka. Claudia was born in 1933-the older sister, his brother was born in 1934-even before the record, and they also have the middle name of Alekseevichi. In general, in our family they never said that their father was called somehow differently. Mom told me everything, I do not think that she would miss the renaming. Yes, and the Stakhanov relatives did not have Andreev, but there was a great -grandfather Alexei. This is the same tradition - to name in honor of the grandfather or great -grandfather. We also called the grandson Alexei, in honor of his grandfather. He is now 17, he finishes the school. ”

In another interview, Violetta Stakhanov scattered Rumors that the real name of her father was glasses.

The earliest mention of the expression “Pravda” cannot be mistaken ”and its variations in the accessible press dates back to 1978. In foreign Collected works Alexander Solzhenitsyn, it explains why one of the writer’s stories, once published in the main newspaper of the country, later, during his opal, was never criticized in the Soviet press. But in connection with Stalin or Stakhanov, such a quote in Soviet times was not published. As for the quote given by Yaroslav Golovanov (“Beautiful Russian Name”), in his notes it was dated to February-March 1984. Prior to this, it also does not occur in the indicated context.

Where did the story of Stakhanov come from, then, not confirming either in the press or in the messages of relatives? Where is its roots?

In many articles about the eminent miner Mentioned His colleague Nikita Isotov, who also worked in the Donbass and three years before the Stakhanovsky record, organized his own, the Izotsky movement to improve the qualifications of workers. He became one of the initiators of the Stakhanov movement, then blocking the achievement of his eminent colleague.

So, back in the 1960s in many publications Isotov’s biography, written by journalist Semyon Gershberg and later even entered the series of ZhZL (Tom, came out "Innovators"). From it you can find out that the Izot movement originated in 1932 after the article of the miner called “My Method” was published in the Pravda newspaper on May 11, in which he spoke in detail about his coal production technique. However, the article on the basis of his story was written by the same Gershberg, then a young correspondent of Pravda, sent to Gorlovka, based on his story. And, as the journalist recalls, the article went to Moscow with the initial (N. Izotov), and after a request for the full name of Miner Zheshakhta replied that he was called Nikita. And only a year later, the wife of Izotova told Gershberg that the miner was called not Nikita, but Nikifor (a family affectionate Nikisha could make a confusion). Then the miner got to Moscow, to the reception of Sergo Ordzhonikidze, and when he called Isotova Nikita, and the worker corrected him, the party leader replied: “Do you want to know my opinion? The glorious name is Nikita. ” As a result, the interlocutors agreed that Better Nikita would remain Nikita.

As you can see, the story with the name of Isotov almost completely repeats the story of Stakhanov (up to the rhyme “Beautiful Russian name Alexei” and “The Glorious Name of Nikita”), but at the same time occurred earlier, gained fame earlier and has a witness in the person of a direct participant in those events. And although here Gershberg is somewhat mistaken in the details (the article “Isotova” was called “How I work”, and on behalf of Isotov, only initials remained in it), but there are other confirmations of history. In particular, in another Soviet biographies Izotov in an interview with Ordzhonikidze clarifies that the error happened in a different note (“Two years ago, my congratulations to Gorky in the newspaper were printed.“ The master of literature from the Masters of the Frish ”. And they signed the“ slaughter of Nikita Isotov ”so that their mouse for the bosom ...”). Gershberg himself will correct his mistake in a few years, MarkingWhat are the September issue of Pravda:

May and September articles in Pravda on behalf of Isotov

Thus, the real defendant of the story about the change of the name was another slave-record holder-Nikita (Nikifor) Izotov, and Stakhanov fell into it, apparently, due to the effect of false memory, after which the bike has overgrown with new details.