1948 in the Soviet Union

The following lists events that happened during 1948 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

← 1947 1946 1945 1948 in the Soviet Union → 1949 1950 1951
Decades:	1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s
See also:	History of the Soviet Union List of years in the Soviet Union

Incumbents

• General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin
• Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union – Nikolay Shvernik
• Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union – Joseph Stalin

Events

• Joseph Stalin sends the first advisers to China in an effort to repair the economic damage brought on by years of civil war.^[1]
• At the request of Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin Sends railroad construction expert I.V. Kovalev with a team of 300 engineers and laborers to repair deteriorated or destroyed Manchurian railways.^[1]
• March 10 – Extreme restrictions are placed on German traffic from the Soviet Zone into Berlin.^[2]
• June 24 – The Soviets implement a total blockade of all ground and water transport into or out of Berlin. The blockade will last nearly a full year, ending May 12, 1949.^[2]

Births

• January 1 — Pavel Grachev, 2nd Minister of Denfence (d. 2012)
• January 10 — Mischa Maisky, cellist
• January 14 — Valeri Kharlamov, ice hockey player (d. 1981)
• January 20 — Natan Sharansky
• January 27
  • Mikhail Baryshnikov, Latvian and American dancer, choreographer and actor
  • Otari Kvantrishvili, Georgian Mafia boss (d. 1994)
• March 20 — Helene Vannari, Estonian stage, radio, television and film actress (d. 2022)
• March 26 — Gayyur Yunus, Azerbaijani painter
• April 13 — Mikhail Shufutinsky, Russian pop singer
• May 2 — Vladimir Matorin, Russian opera singer
• May 31 — Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian
• June 1 — Juhan Viiding, Estonian poet and actor (d. 1995)
• June 30 — Vladimir Yakunin, former President of Russian Railways
• July 16 — Mariia Stefiuk^[3]
• July 21 — Mikhail Zadornov, Soviet and Russian stand-up comedian and writer (d. 2017)
• August 23 — Lev Zelyony, Soviet and Russian physicist
• August 28 — Natalya Gundareva, Russian film and theatre actress (d. 2005)
• August 30 — Victor Skumin, Soviet and Russian scientist, psychiatrist, philosopher and writer
• September 19 — Nadiya Tkachenko, Ukrainian pentathlete
• September 25 — Vladimir Yevtushenko, billionaire and oligarch
• November 9 — Viktor Matviyenko, Soviet and Ukrainian footballer and coach (d. 2018)

Deaths

• January 13 — Solomon Mikhoels, actor and artistic director of the Moscow State Jewish Theater (b. 1890)
• February 11 — Sergei Eisenstein, film director (b. 1898)
• March 23 — Yevgeniy Abalakov, mountaineer and sculptor (b. 1907)
• April 19 — Mikhail Rostovtsev, bass, opera and operetta singer and actor (b. 1872)
• May 1 — David Shterenberg, painter and graphic artist (b. 1881)
• July 28 — Nikolai Podvoisky, Bolshevik revolutionary and statesman (b. 1880)
• August 31 — Andrei Zhdanov, Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (b. 1896)
• September 30 — Vasily Kachalov, actor (b. 1875)
• October 25 — Boris Fomin, musician (b. 1900)

See also

• 1948 in fine arts of the Soviet Union
• List of Soviet films of 1948