The cigarette case from the collection of the Zlatoust City Museum of Local Lore belonged to the organizer and leader of the country’s first Komsomol youth shock-work brigade at the Zlatoust Ironworks, Vasily Mikhailovich Simonov. He was born in 1905 in the village of Miassky Zavod, Troitsk Uyezd, Orenburg Governorate.
Vasily Simonov began his career in 1920 in the forging shop of the Zlatoust Mechanical Plant. On July 27, 1927, he was one of the first in the Soviet Union and the first in the Urals to organize a Komsomol youth shock-work brigade.
Simonov achieved a significant improvement in the performance of the team: he managed to triple the labor productivity, reduce the number of defects and strengthen labor discipline. The practice of shock work quickly spread in the factories of Zlatoust and outside the city, then covered the whole country.
Vasily Mikhailovich Simonov was a delegate of the 1st All-Union Meeting of Shock-Workers in 1928. After returning from Moscow, he introduced a line production method of work throughout the workshop and traveled to other factories in the Southern Urals (Satka, Karabash, Verkhny Ufaley, Nyazepetrovsk), where he shared his experience in organizing brigade labor.
In 1929, Simonov became a member of the Zlatoust City Council. A year later, he was elected a member of the Ural Regional Council of Trade Unions, and in 1932, he was sent by the Komsomol organization of the plant to the Northern Urals, where he participated in organizing the first fishing cooperatives.
In 1933, he became the chairman of the district cooperative in the village of Khalmersed (now the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District). In the late 1930s, Simonov was presented with a stamped silver cigarette case. The front side features a relief image of a figure of a Red Army fighter with a rifle against the background of factory buildings, a banner and a laurel branch; the reverse has an engraved inscription: “From the conference of shock-workers to V. Simonov, the leader of the USSR first shock-work team.”
In 1939–1959, Vasily Mikhailovich worked at enterprises in the Tyumen region. In 1961, he returned to Zlatoust, where he became a member of the Zlatoust City Council of Veterans. In 1967, he was one of the first to receive the title of honorary citizen. He was awarded the medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”. He died in Zlatoust in 1973. The cigarette case was donated to the museum by the owner in 1960.
Vasily Simonov began his career in 1920 in the forging shop of the Zlatoust Mechanical Plant. On July 27, 1927, he was one of the first in the Soviet Union and the first in the Urals to organize a Komsomol youth shock-work brigade.
Simonov achieved a significant improvement in the performance of the team: he managed to triple the labor productivity, reduce the number of defects and strengthen labor discipline. The practice of shock work quickly spread in the factories of Zlatoust and outside the city, then covered the whole country.
Vasily Mikhailovich Simonov was a delegate of the 1st All-Union Meeting of Shock-Workers in 1928. After returning from Moscow, he introduced a line production method of work throughout the workshop and traveled to other factories in the Southern Urals (Satka, Karabash, Verkhny Ufaley, Nyazepetrovsk), where he shared his experience in organizing brigade labor.
In 1929, Simonov became a member of the Zlatoust City Council. A year later, he was elected a member of the Ural Regional Council of Trade Unions, and in 1932, he was sent by the Komsomol organization of the plant to the Northern Urals, where he participated in organizing the first fishing cooperatives.
In 1933, he became the chairman of the district cooperative in the village of Khalmersed (now the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District). In the late 1930s, Simonov was presented with a stamped silver cigarette case. The front side features a relief image of a figure of a Red Army fighter with a rifle against the background of factory buildings, a banner and a laurel branch; the reverse has an engraved inscription: “From the conference of shock-workers to V. Simonov, the leader of the USSR first shock-work team.”
In 1939–1959, Vasily Mikhailovich worked at enterprises in the Tyumen region. In 1961, he returned to Zlatoust, where he became a member of the Zlatoust City Council of Veterans. In 1967, he was one of the first to receive the title of honorary citizen. He was awarded the medal “For Valiant Labor in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945”. He died in Zlatoust in 1973. The cigarette case was donated to the museum by the owner in 1960.
