About the regional stage in the biography of the first deputy minister of railways of the USSR N.A. Gundobin

Relevance . The role of railway transport in modern conditions is increasing due to the intensification of economic and geopolitical processes that require constant mobility of human and material resources. In this regard, the experience of the functioning of Soviet railways is becoming in demand not only by production workers, but also by representatives of humanitarian knowledge. Any modernization of production technologies is impossible without the active and creative participation of a labor person in it. Therefore, the study of the human factor in Russian history continues to be updated. The use of newly identified sources of personal origin in the study allows us to reveal previously unknown aspects of the life of historical personalities, which is especially important in creating full-fledged portraits of statesmen who made a significant contribution to the development of the country, among which N.A. Gundobin should be included. The purpose of the study is to comprehensively examine, on the basis of newly identified historical sources, the initial stage of the biography of the former First Deputy Minister of Railways of the USSR N.A. Gundobin. Objectives : to reveal the specifics of the functioning of railway transport in the period under review; to characterize the main factors of N.A. Gundobin's personal and professional development. Methodology . The principles of objectivity and historicism were used as the methodological basis of the work. To solve the tasks set, the authors used historical-genetic, historical-systemic, biographical, and retrospective methods. Results . The study and generalization of archival and memoir sources allowed us to reconstruct the events of the initial stage of personal formation and professional activity of one of the outstanding organizers of railway transport in the USSR, N.A. Gundobin. Conclusions . Family traditions and the passage of all stages of career growth from ordinary transport professions with a responsible attitude to the assigned task allowed N.A. Gundobin to hold a high leadership position in the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR for almost 30 years, which testifies to the exceptional organizational abilities and hard work of a person who for so long ensured the functioning of an industry strategically important for the country.