Loskutov Ivan Kuzmich was a Soviet industrial manager and director of the Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ) from 1938 to 1948. His tenure as director was not uninterrupted: he led the plant from 1938 to 1942, then again from 1943 to 1948.[1] He was born on July 7, 1900, into a peasant family in a remote Mari village in Kazan Governorate (now Kuzhenersky District of the Republic of Mari El).[2] He graduated from the Leningrad Industrial Institute and began working at GAZ, rising from design engineer to director of the enterprise. Loskutov held the military rank of Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service.[3] In Leningrad, Loskutov completed a workers' preparatory faculty (rabfak) at the Mining Institute, was active in Party work, and was elected a deputy of the Leningrad City Soviet; in 1929 he was sent to study at the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, which he graduated from in 1934 as a qualified mechanical engineer, after which he was assigned to the Gorky Automobile Plant.[2] In 1919 he volunteered for the Red Army and served with the 60th Saratov Rifle Division in the Volga Region, and after being demobilized due to illness he worked as secretary of the Komsomol organization of the Mari Autonomous Oblast in Krasnokokshaysk (now Yoshkar-Ola).[2][1] He led the enterprise during one of the most difficult periods in its history — the years of the Great Patriotic War and postwar reconstruction.[4]
Management of GAZ
During Loskutov's directorship, the plant rapidly mastered the production of T-60 light tanks and subsequently the T-70. On October 21, 1941, Loskutov received a government telegram signed by Stalin demanding a sharp increase in the output of T-60 tanks for the defenders of Moscow within two or three days — the assignment was completed on time.[3] Loskutov became the third director of GAZ, taking over the plant after Sergey Dyakonov, who had been repressed in April 1938; that same year, in 1938, Loskutov was elected a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. On March 19, 1942, the Gorky Automobile Plant was awarded the Order of Lenin: Mikhail Kalinin, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, made a special trip to Gorky for the occasion, and General Loskutov received the decoration from his hands.[3][2] A particularly notable chapter of his leadership was the restoration of the plant following German air raids: the bombed-out enterprise was rebuilt from rubble in one hundred days.
At the end of 1942, Loskutov was recalled from the plant and, before returning to Gorky in 1943, worked in the USSR People's Commissariat of Power Stations.[3] Under Loskutov's leadership, the GAZ workforce mastered the production of the postwar models GAZ-51 and M-20 Pobeda, which played a significant role in the development of the country's postwar economy. In 1950, Loskutov and other creators of the Pobeda were awarded the Stalin Prize; the first examples of this automobile had been produced at GAZ as early as the first half of 1945.[3][1][4]
Role in the Development of Avtozavodsky District
Loskutov played a significant role in shaping the Avtozavodsky District park of culture and leisure. He was involved in the founding and landscaping of the park, which became the center of recreation for factory workers and district residents. For his services to the country, Loskutov was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, the Order of Kutuzov 2nd Class, the Order of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class, the Badge of Honour, and several medals; one of the streets of Avtozavodsky District in Nizhny Novgorod bears his name.[1] After leaving GAZ, Loskutov headed the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant from 1948 to 1953, and subsequently held various positions in the USSR Ministry of the Automobile Industry; he died in 1981.[1][4]
Links
- Official website (archive) (lib-avt.ru)
Sources
- lib-avt.ru — Ivan Kuzmich Loskutov was born on July 7, 1900, into a peasant family. He graduated from the Leningrad Industrial Institute and afterwards began working at GAZ, having progressed through (archive)
- lib-avt.ru — Ivan Kuzmich Loskutov was a native of a remote Mari village in Kazan Governorate (now the Kuzhenersky District of the Republic of Mari El). In 1919 he enlisted as a volunteer (archive)
- lib-avt.ru — Loskutov held the military rank of Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service. (archive)
- lib-avt.ru — Loskutov Ivan Kuzmich — Centralized Library System of Avtozavodsky District, Nizhny Novgorod (archive)