Russia, Soviet Union. A Rare 1943 Stalin Prize Award Document, Joseph Stalin Signature

A rare award document to a recipient of the Stalin Prize, of multi-piece off-white card stock construction, the cover page bearing a gilt sickle and hammer intertwined with a laurel branch, the following page decorated with gilt and ink inscriptions indicating that the certificate was issued in 1943 by the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, followed by an embossed national emblem, award title in gilt Russian Cyrillic, and inscription indicating that the document is for a III Class award, the following page bearing a black-and-white portrait of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, followed by a lengthy dedication to Anna Kondratyevna Yutkina, bestowing the award for her meritorious leadership of the “Red Perekop” collective farm in the Mariinsky District, Kemerovo region, culminating in a certification page featuring the handwritten signature of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, flanked by a gilt typewritten name and title in Russian Cyrillic, situated above the handwritten signature of Yakov Chadaev (Minister of Affairs of the Council of Peoples’ Commissars), flanked by a stamped national seal, and framed with gilt laurel and oak leaf branches, measuring 25 cm (w) x 35.5 cm (h), demonstrating moderate soiling and material fatigue throughout in addition to the loss of its original presentation binder, a rare and desirable wartime signature in very fine condition.

Footnote: In her capacity as Brigade Leader of the “Red Perekop” collective farm, Anna Konratyevna Yutkina oversaw increases of potato cultivation used to feed the Soviet people and Red Army during the early years of the country’s involvement in the Second World War. She was also decorated with the Hero of Socialist Labour. Yutkina’s distinction in food production was such that she was selected to accompany a delivery of food to frontline soldiers in early 1943 as part of an initiative to boost morale.