| − | The title '''Hero of the Soviet Union''' was the highest honor given by the government of the [[Soviet Union]]. The order was founded in 1934, and between that date and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 was awarded to 12,745 recipients. 11,635 awards were made during the [[Second World War]] but awards were made to scientists, cosmonauts, politicians, foreign leaders and others as well as to military heroes. Marshal [[Georgy Zhukov]] and former Soviet leadre [[Leonid Brezhnev]] each received the order four times; [[Stalin]], by contrast, was only once made Hero of the Soviet Union. Other holders of the distinction include [[Lavrenty Beria]], [[Yuri Gagarin]], [[Valentina Tereshkova]], [[Richard Sorge]], [[Konstantin Chernenko]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], and [[Fidel Castro]] | + | The title '''Hero of the Soviet Union''' was the highest honor given by the government of the [[Soviet Union]]. The order was founded in 1934, and between that date and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 was awarded to 12,745 recipients. 11,635 awards were made during the [[Second World War]] but awards were made to scientists, cosmonauts, politicians, foreign leaders and others as well as to military heroes. Marshal [[Georgi Zhukov]] and former Soviet leader [[Leonid Brezhnev]] each received the order four times; [[Stalin]], by contrast, was only once made Hero of the Soviet Union. Other holders of the distinction include [[Lavrenty Beria]], [[Yuri Gagarin]], [[Valentina Tereshkova]], [[Richard Sorge]], [[Konstantin Chernenko]], [[Nikita Khrushchev]], and [[Fidel Castro]] |