Dmitri Zakharovich Protopopov (; 4 October 1897 â 3 March 1986) was First Secretary of the Communist Party of Tajikistan from April 1938 to August 1946. He was a member of the Communist Party since 1917. He was twice awarded the Order of Lenin. He was an ethnic Russian, born in Kostyonki, Voronezh Oblast, Russian Empire.