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{{Short description|Soviet politician and civil servant (1911–1980)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| office = [[Ministry of Instrumentation, Automation and Control Systems|Minister of Instrument Making, Automated Equipment, and Control Systems]]
| leader =
| vicepresident =
| primeminister =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| term_start = October 1965
| term_end = 13 August 1980
| office1 = [[Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union]]
| leader1 =
| vicepresident1 =
| primeminister1 =
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| term_start1 = June 1961
| term_end1 = October 1965
| office2 = Chairman of State Committee for Defense Technology
| leader2 =
| vicepresident2 =
| primeminister2 =
| predecessor2 =
| successor2 =
| term_start2 = May 1958
| term_end2 = June 1961
| birth_name = Konstantin Nikolaevich Rudnev
| birth_date = 22 June 1911
| birth_place = [[Tula, Russia|Tula]], [[Russian Empire]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1980|8|13|1911|6|22|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Moscow]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[Soviet Union]]
| restingplace = [[Novodevichy Cemetery]], Moscow
| party = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| alma_mater =
| spouse =
| nationality = USSR
| children =
}}
'''Konstantin Nikolaevich Rudnev''' ({{Langx|ru|Константин Николаевич Руднев}}; 1911–1980) was a Soviet politician who held various cabinet and public posts. He was the long-term minister of instrument making, automated equipment, and control systems between 1965 and 1980. He played a significant role in the Soviet missile and [[Soviet space program|space programs]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Asif Siddiqi|title=Declassified Sources on Gagarin|publisher=Wilson Center|url=https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/declassified-sources-gagarin|access-date=1 September 2022|date=12 April 2021}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Rudnev was born in [[Tula, Russia|Tula]] on 22 June 1911.<ref name=warh/> He graduated from Tula Mechanics Institute in 1935.<ref name=warh/>

==Career==
In 1940 Rudnev joined the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]].<ref name=warh/> During [[World War II]] he served as the director of a [[Ammunition|munitions]] plant.<ref name=sid20>{{cite book|author=Asif A. Siddiqi|title=Challenge to Apollo: The Soviet Union and the Space Race, 1945-1974|pages=91,113,178|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=2000|isbn=978-0-16-061305-0|location=Washington, DC
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5pQ9AQAAMAAJ|author-link=Asif Azam Siddiqi}}</ref> On 8 August 1950 he was named as the head of a science and research institute, NII 88, replacing Major General Lev R. Gonor in the post.<ref name=sid20/> In May 1952 Rudnev was appointed deputy [[Ministry of Armaments (Soviet Union)|minister of armaments]] under [[Dmitry Ustinov]].<ref name=sid20/> The [[Ministry of Defense (Soviet Union)|Ministry of Defense]] was renamed as the State Committee for Defense Technology in May 1958, and Rudnev was named as its chairman.<ref name=sid20/>

In 1961 Rudnev became a member of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam|central committee of the Communist Party]].<ref name=warh/> In June 1961 he was appointed [[Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union|deputy premier]] responsible for research activities which he held until October 1965.<ref name=warh/><ref>{{cite news|title=Soviet Science Aide Sees Closer Links With France|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/02/18/archives/soviet-science-aide-sees-closer-links-with-france.html?auth=login-google1tap&login=google1tap|access-date=1 September 2022|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=17 February 1964|location=Paris}}</ref> Next he was appointed minister of instrument making, automated equipment, and control systems in October 1965.<ref name=bpeters/> He held the post until his death in August 1980.<ref name=bpeters>{{cite book|year=2016|author=Benjamin Peters|title=How Not to Network a Nation: The Uneasy History of the Soviet Internet|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|page=217|location=Cambridge, MA|isbn=9780262334198
|doi=10.7551/mitpress/9780262034180.001.0001|url=https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262034180.001.0001}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Evan Mawdsley|author2=Stephen White|title=The Soviet Elite from Lenin to Gorbachev: The Central Committee and its Members 1917-1991|year=2000|page=262
|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|author1-link=Evan Mawdsley|author2-link=Stephen White (political scientist)|location=Oxford
|doi=10.1093/0198297386.001.0001|url=https://doi.org/10.1093/0198297386.001.0001|isbn=9780191599842}}</ref>

== Interesting Facts ==
Rudnev was the chairman of the state commission responsible for launching the ''Vostok'' spacecraft with a human on board. The day after Yuri A. Gagarin completed the world’s first human spaceflight, he presented Rudnev with an issue of ''Pravda'' dated 13 April 1961 containing the TASS report on the flight, inscribed: “To the supervisor from the performer. Gagarin.”<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=К.Н. Руднев как организатор отечественной космонавтики|url=http://www.za-nauku.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4058|website=www.za-nauku.ru|access-date=2025-11-27|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241127024940/http://www.za-nauku.ru/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4058|archive-date=2024-11-27|first=Ильин|last=В.Н.}}</ref>

In a conversation with Gagarin after his landing, Rudnev joked: “Well, you and I are practically countrymen. You graduated from the Orenburg Flight School, and I worked in the Orenburg region during the war.”<ref name=":0" />

==Death==
Rudnev died in Moscow on 13 August 1980 while serving as the minister.<ref name=warh/> He was buried in the [[Novodevichy Cemetery]].<ref name=warh/>

== Awards ==
Rudnev was the recipient of the following:<ref name="warh">{{cite web|title=Руднев Константин Николаевич|url=https://warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=14058|publisher=War Heroes|access-date=1 September 2022 |language=ru}}</ref>
* [[Hero of Socialist Labour]] (17 June 1961)
* Six [[Order of Lenin|Orders of Lenin]] (5 August 1944, 20 April 1956, 21 December 1957, 17 June 1961, 2 July 1966, 21 June 1971)
* [[Order of the October Revolution]] (12 March 1976)
* [[Order of the Patriotic War]], 2nd class (16 September 1945)
* Two [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour|Orders of the Red Banner of Labour]] (3 June 1942, 1949)
* [[Medal "For Labour Valour"]] (8 June 1939)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudnev, Konstantin}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery]]
[[Category:People from Tula, Russia]]
[[Category:Deputy heads of government of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Ministers of defence of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 24th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Members of the Central Committee of the 25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Heroes of Socialist Labour]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of Lenin]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the October Revolution]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour]]

Konstantin Rudnev - Revision history

imported>Edenim: added Interesting Facts