Russia, Soviet Union. A 1941 Stalin Prize Award Document, II Class to Sergey Vyshelessky, with Vyacheslav Molotov Signature

A scarce award document set to a recipient of the Stalin Prize, consisting of a binder constructed of a heavy card stock shell, fully lined on the exterior with a faux taupe leather liner, the cover bearing a gilded non-magnetic metal medallion overlaid by the raised profiles of of Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, situated above a gilt Russian Cyrillic inscription of “ЛАУРЕАТУ СТАЛИНСКОЙ ПРЕМИИ” (“TO THE LAUREATE OF THE STALIN PRIZE”), opening to reveal a multi-piece off-white card stock insert, the cover page bearing a gilt sickle and hammer intertwined with a laurel branch, the subsequent pages decorated with gilt and ink inscriptions indicating that the certificate was issued in 1941 by the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR, followed by an embossed national emblem situated above a further title and inscription indicating the the document is for a II Class award, the next page bearing a black-and-white portrait of Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin followed by a dedication to recipient Sergey Nikolaevich Vyshelessky, bestowing the award for Vyshelessky’s meritorious research on contagious animal diseases and development of treatment methods between 1935 and 1940 as a member of the Military Veterinary Academy of the Red Army, culminating in a certification page featuring the handwritten signature of Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Molotov, 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), framed by gilt laurel and oak leaf branches, issued from the Kremlin, measuring 25.5 cm (w) x 36 cm (h), moderate loss of gilt finish is visible to the cover medallion, the portrait of Stalin formerly adorning the dedication section is retained but has detached, and the paper demonstrates minor and age-appropriate discolouration, a scarce set in near extremely fine condition.

Footnote: A graduate of the Warsaw Veterinary Institute (1899), Sergey Nikolaevich Vyshelessky embarked on a distinguished career in epizootiology the Soviet Union, serving as simultaneously serving as Head of the Department of the Vitebsk Veterinary Institute and Director of the Belarusian State Veterinary and Bacteriological Institute in the Byelorussian SSR between 1928 and 1930. He then transferred to the Kazan and Moscow Veterinary Research Institutes from 1931 until 1934, and took up a post as a Professor at the Moscow Veterinary Institute from the end of the same year. He developed treatment methods for anthrax, plague, tuberculosis, and other ailments in animals, and authored the Soviet Union’s first textbook on epizootiology. In 1974, he was honoured by the Academy of Agricultural Sciences with the establishment of the S.N. Vyshelessky Gold Medal for outstanding work in the field of epizootiology.