Pyotr Vasilyevich Dementyev (; 11 (24) January 1907 â 14 May 1977) was a Soviet statesman who served twice as Minister of Aviation Industry from 1953 to 1957 and again from 1965 until his death in 1977 overseeing the post-war shift to jet and large-scale civil production in the USSR's aircraft sector. He held the rank of colonel general engineer (1976), was twice named Hero of Socialist Labour (1941, 1977), and sat on the CPSU Central Committee while serving as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet.
Dementyev was born in the village of Ubei (now in Drozhzhanovsky District, Tatarstan), into a family of teachers; his birth date is recorded as 11 (24) January 1907 (Old Style/New Style).
Between 1934 and 1941, Dementyev advanced at the Kazan Aviation Plant, serving as a shop chief, chief engineer, and plant director. In early 1941 he was appointed First Deputy People's Commissar of Aviation Industry. During the war he was creditedâÂÂtogether with industry teams with organising serial output under evacuation and mobilisation conditions, efforts for which he received his first Hero of Socialist Labour title in 1942.
After the March 1946 conversion of the wartime commissariat into the Ministry of Aviation Industry (MAP), Dementyev served as Deputy Minister.
For his work in aviation, Dementyev received numerous state honours, including the USSR State Prize (1953), nine Orders of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, the Order of Suvorov, 2nd class, the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class, two Orders of the Red Banner of Labour, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals. He was twice named Hero of Socialist Labour, first during the war and again in 1977, and was promoted to colonel general engineer in 1976.