Vasily Starodubtsev

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Alexandrovich and the family name is Starodubtsev.

Vasily Alexandrovich Starodubtsev (Russian: Василий Александрович Стародубцев; December 25, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Soviet and Russian politician and governor of Tula Oblast from 1997 to 2005. He was also the Chairman of the Peasants Union of the USSR, during which he served as a member of the State Committee on the State of Emergency in the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt. He was a leader of the Agrarian Party of Russia.

Vasily Starodubtsev
Василий Стародубцев
Member of the State Duma (Party List Seat)
In office 24 December 2007 – 30 December 2011
Succeeded by	Oleg Lebedev
2nd Governor of Tula Oblast
In office 31 March 1997 – 29 April 2005
Preceded by	Nikolai Sevryugin
Succeeded by	Vyacheslav Dudka
Member of the Federation Council from Tula Oblast
ex-officio as Governor
In office 16 April 1997 – 25 December 2001
Preceded by	Nikolai Sevryugin
Succeeded by	Anatoly Vaskov
by popular election
In office 11 January 1994 – 15 January 1996 Serving with Alexander Titkin
Preceded by	office established
Succeeded by	Nikolai Sevryugin Victor Derevianko
Member of the State Committee on the State of Emergency
In office 19 August 1991 – 21 August 1991
President	Gennady Yanayev
Personal details
Born	25 December 1931 Volovchik, Volovsky District, Central Black Earth Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR
Died	30 December 2011(2011-12-30) (aged 80) Novomoskovsk, Russia
Political party	CPSU (until 1991) CPRF (from 1995)
Other political affiliations	Agrarian Party of Russia (1993-2004)
Children	Alexander Natalya
Education	Voronezh Agricultural Institute (DPhil)
Occupation	Agronomist Farmer
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Branch/service	Soviet Air Force
Years of service	1951-1955
Rank	Junior lieutenant

Biography

Born into a peasant family, he began his political career at the age of 16 as an ordinary collective farmer and later became a collective farm foreman in the Lipetsk region. Since 1949, he was a commodity manager and foreman of the Construction and Installation Department No. 22 in the city of Zhukovsky (Moscow district). At the same time, he studied at flight courses at his local flying club.

After his graduation, he was drafted into the Armed Forces and, between 1951 and 1955, he served in military aviation units, flew as a flight mechanic on combat aircraft, and was transferred to the reserve with the rank of second lieutenant.

Since 1955, he was a bulk carrier, a mining machine operator at Mine No.36 of the Stalinogorskugol Trust in the city of Novomoskovsk (Tula region). From 1959 to 1965, he studied at the Voronezh Agricultural Institute, and became a "scientific agronomist-economist". In 1966 he graduated from the All-USSR Correspondence Agricultural Institute with a degree in economics and organization of agriculture.

From 1964 to 1997 he became the chairman of the collective farm "Lenin" in the Novomoskovsky district.

Among his awards were Hero of Socialist Labour title, three Orders of Lenin, USSR State Prize, Order of the October Revolution, Order of the Badge of Honour. He had Candidate of Sciences degree in agriculture and was a corresponding member of VASKhNIL.

Starodubtsev was a member of the Federation Council of Russia (1993–96; also in 1997–2001 as a region governor) and of the State Duma (2007–11).

Starodubtsev was a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation.