Andriyan Nikolayev

Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolayev (Chuvash and ; 5 September 1929 – 3 July 2004) was a Soviet cosmonaut. In 1962, aboard Vostok 3, he became the third Soviet cosmonaut to fly into space. Nikolayev was an ethnic Chuvash and because of it is considered the first Turkic cosmonaut.

Early life

Andrian Grigoryevich Nikolayev was born on 5 September 1929, in Shorshely, a village in the Chuvash region of the Volga River valley, and spent his time growing up on a collective farm.

Education and career

Nikolayev supported his family following the death of his father in 1944, however this was not preferred by his mother, who preferred that he earn an education. Nikolayev later entered medical school before he joined the Soviet army.

In 2004, Nikolayev died of a heart attack in Cheboksary, the capital of Chuvashia in Russia. A scandal ensued. His daughter, who lives in Moscow, desired that he be interred in the cemetery at Star City. The President of Chuvashia had other ideas. After a farewell ceremony in Cheboksary, Nikolayev was buried in his native village of Shorshely. He has no family living in the republic. Plans are in the works to move the body to Star City.

Nikolayev was also a keen skier: Service in the Air Force made us strong, both physically and morally. All of us cosmonauts took up sports and PT seriously when we served in the Air Force. I know that Yuri Gagarin was fond of ice hockey. He liked to play goal keeper. Gherman Titov was a gymnastics enthusiast, Andriyan Nikolayev liked skiing, Pavel Popovich went in for weight lifting. I don't think I am wrong when I say that sports became a fixture in the life of the cosmonauts.

Awards

Hero of the Soviet Union, twice (18 August 1962, 3 July 1970) Order of Lenin (18 August 1962) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (15 January 1976) Order of the Red Star (1961) Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR", 3rd class (30 May 1988) Medal "For Strengthening of Brotherhood in Arms" (18 February 1991) USSR State Prize (1981) Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic Hero of Labour of Mongolia (1965) Order of Sukhbaatar (1965, Mongolia) Hero of Socialist Labour (Bulgaria) Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria) Order of Cyril and Methodius (Bulgaria) Hero of Socialist Labour (Vietnam, 1962) Order "State Banner IRR" (Hungary, 1964) National Order of Nepal (1963) Star of the Republic of Indonesia, 2nd class (1963) Order of the Nile (Egypt) Honorary Citizen of the Chuvash Republic, Petrozavodsk (1980), Karaganda and Smolensk Honoured Master of Sports of the USSR (1962)

The lunar crater Nikolaev is named after him.