The Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) Kray was an administrative-territorial unit of the USSR, formed on January 14, 1929, by a decree of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) through the transformation of the Nizhny Novgorod Province in the course of USSR. It encompassed the territory of the present-day Nizhny Novgorod Region and a number of neighboring regions; its administrative center was Nizhny Novgorod (The City of Gorky).
Formation and Composition
The kray was formed in 1929 in the course of the Soviet administrative-territorial reform: the decree of the VTsIK Presidium dated January 14, 1929, transformed the Nizhny Novgorod Governorate by incorporating its territory into the new kray. In 1932, Nizhny Novgorod was renamed Gorky, and the kray received its final name — the Gorky Kray.
The kray included, in particular, Dzerzhinsky; it was during this period that Dzerzhinsk of the USSR, and within its administrative framework the Dzerzhinsky City Committee of the VKP(b) operated.
The kray's executive body — the Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky) Kray Executive Committee — handled matters of administrative organization and the placement of institutions across the kray's territory. In particular, on April 12, 1930, the Presidium of the Kray Executive Committee resolved to "agree in principle" to the establishment of a militia school in Nizhny Novgorod.
Culture and Scholarly Publications
During the kray's existence, a publication titled "Toys of the Gorky Kray" (1933) was released in Zagorsk — one of the earliest Soviet works documenting the traditional toy-making industry in the region.
Transformation
The Gorky Kray was transformed into Gorky Oblast in 1936 (according to other sources, in 1937); a number of territories that had previously been part of the kray were separated into independent oblasts. In 1992, as part of democratic reforms, the oblast was renamed Nizhny Novgorod Region, and its head once again came to be called governor.
Sources
Based on materials from articles (5)
Nizhny Novgorod Province, Militia School, Dzerzhinsky District, Toys, Pavel Batashov