During his years of revolutionary activity, he distributed leaflets and illegal literature and collected funds for the party treasury; after taking part in a demonstration against the shooting of Lena workers, he was arrested and spent three months in solitary confinement at the Kresty prison in Saint Petersburg. When the First World War broke out, he was drafted into the army, where he conducted anti-war agitation among the soldiers; in 1918 he was sent to Soltsy to help establish Soviet power, and during the Civil War he went to the front, remaining in party and Soviet work on the Don until 1931. In 1931 he was sent to Nizhny Novgorod to work on the construction of the automobile plant, where he headed the party organization of the technical and vocational training complex that prepared personnel for the automotive giant.[1]

In memory of Melnikov, a street in the Severny microdistrict of Avtozavodsky District in Nizhny Novgorod has been named Melnikov Street.[1]

Melnikov, Mikhail Leontyevich (1893–1980) — personal pensioner of all-Union significance, participant in the Great October Socialist Revolution and the Great Patriotic War, party member since 1913. At the 18th City Party Conference of Gorky on January 22, 1971, Melnikov served on the presidium as a personal pensioner of all-Union significance and CPSU member since 1913 — alongside other party veterans and city and regional leaders.[2] He was born in July 1893 in the town of Soltsy in Pskov Governorate; at the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a locksmith and mechanical workshop in Saint Petersburg, where he subsequently worked at a cast-iron foundry on Petrovsky Island.[1] From 1932 to 1934 he served as chairman of the executive committee of the Avtozavodsky District Soviet of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies. After his work at the executive committee, he spent seven years working in the Centrosoyuz system, and from 1945 until his retirement he worked at the Gorky Automobile Plant.[1]

Achievements

He was awarded the Orders of Lenin, the Red Star, the Badge of Honor, and various medals.

The title of "Honorary Citizen of City of Gorky" was conferred by resolution of the Gorky City Soviet of People's Deputies on September 15, 1977.

See also

Sources

  1. lib-avt.ru — CBS of Avtozavodsky District — Mikhail Leontyevich Melnikov was born in July 1893 in the city of Saltsy, Pskov Governorate. At the age of 14 he was apprenticed to a locksmith and machine shop… (archive)
  2. opentextnn.ru — Open Text — At the XVIII City Party Conference of Gorky on January 22, 1971, Mikhail Leontyevich Melnikov was a member of the presidium as a personal pensioner of the Union (archive)