1939 in the Soviet Union
The following lists events that happened during 1939 in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
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 – Mikhail Kalinin
- Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union – Vyacheslav Molotov
Events
- March 10–21 — 18th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks)
- May 11 — September 16 – Battles of Khalkhin Gol
- August 19 — German–Soviet Credit Agreement (1939)
- August 23 — Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact
- September 17-October 6 — Soviet invasion of Poland
- September 28 — Soviet–Estonian Mutual Assistance Treaty, also amendment to the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty
- October 5 — Soviet–Latvian Mutual Assistance Treaty
- October 10 — Soviet–Lithuanian Mutual Assistance Treaty
- November 26 — Shelling of Mainila
- November 30 — Winter War
Births
January
- January 4 — Igor Chislenko, Russian footballer
- January 6 — Valeriy Lobanovskyi, Soviet and Ukrainian football player and manager
- January 22 — Mikhail Moiseyev, military officer and politician
- January 28 — Viktor Shustikov, Russian footballer
- January 31 — Aleksandr Porokhovshchikov, Russian actor and film director
February
- February 1 — Ekaterina Maximova, Soviet and Russian ballerina
- February 2 — Valeri Kravchenko, volleyball player
- February 6 — Simon Achikgyozyan, Armenian military commander
- February 15 — Akbar Mirzoyev, 2nd Prime Minister of Tajikistan
- February 16 — Nikolai Sevryugin, 1st Governor of Tula Oblast
- February 23 — Anatoly Dobryakov, 1st Governor of Pskov Oblast
- February 28 — Valentina Khmel, Russian painter-plasterer and politician
March
- March 8 — Lidiya Skoblikova, Soviet and Russian speed skater and coach
- March 31 — Zviad Gamsakhurdia, 1st President of Georgia
April
- April 15 — Omirbek Baigeldi, 1st Chairman of the Senate of Kazakhstan
May
- May 2 — Leonid Kanevsky, actor
- May 19 — Kateryna Boloshkevich, Ukrainian weaver and statesperson
- May 20 — Roman Kartsev, Soviet and Russian actor
- May 26
- *Merab Kostava, Georgian dissident, musician and poet
- *Vitaly Galkov, sprint canoer
- May 30 — Mikhail Kolesnikov, 2nd Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces
June
- June 20 — Leonid Gorbenko, 2nd Governor of Kaliningrad Oblast
July
- July 5 — Pavel Morozenko, theatre and film actor
- July 7
- *Elena Obraztsova, Soviet and Russian opera singer
- *Vladilen Volkov, 2nd Head of the Altai Republic
- July 16 — Konstantin Kobets, State Adviser for the RSFSR for Defence
August
- August 4 — Oleg Zaytsev, ice hockey defenceman
- August 5 — Jumber Patiashvili, 14th First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party
- August 14 — Vladislav Tikhomirov, 2nd Governor of Ivanovo Oblast
- August 16 — Valery Ryumin, Soviet cosmonaut
- August 17 — Valery Gavrilin, Soviet and Russian composer
- August 28 — Vladimir Ivashov, Soviet and Russian actor
September
- September 5 — Suren Arutyunyan, 14th First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia
- September 7 — Stanislav Petrov, Soviet Air Defence Forces official
- September 12 — Ion Ustian, 5th Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Moldavian SSR
- September 13 — Guntis Ulmanis, 5th President of Latvia
- September 17 — Vladimir Menshov, actor and film director
October
- October 2 — Yuri Glazkov, Soviet Air Force officer and cosmonaut
- October 5 — Vladimir Rusalov, Russian psychologist and anthropologist
- October 8 — Elvīra Ozolina, javelin thrower
- October 12 — Yuri Vasilyev, Soviet and Russian stage and film actor
- October 18 — Ivan Shabanov, 4th Governor of Voronezh Oblast
November
- November 9 — Suimenkul Chokmorov, Kyrgyz film actor
- November 21 — Vladimir Suslov, 1st Governor of Tver Oblast
- November 28 — Gennadi Volnov, Russian basketball player
December
- December 6 — Abish Kekilbayev, 2nd State Counsellor of Kazakhstan
- December 22 — Valentin Afonin, Soviet and Russian footballer
- December 30 — Elena Tchaikovskaia, Russian figure skating coach and choreographer
Deaths
- January 15 — Kullervo Manner, politician
- February 2 — Vladimir Shukhov, engineer
- February 22 — Grigory Khakhanyan, corps commander
- February 23
- *Pyotr Smirnov, naval officer and politician
- *Alexander Yegorov, army officer
- February 26
- *Stanislav Kosior, politician
- *Vlas Chubar, politician
- *Pavel Postyshev, politician
- *Ivan Fedko, army officer
- *Levon Mirzoyan, politician
- February 27 — Nadezhda Krupskaya, revolutionary and wife of Vladimir Lenin
- March 3 — Georgy Bazilevich, corps commander
- March 7 — Matvei Berman, security officer
- March 10 — Georgy Bondar, corps commander
- April 1 — Anton Makarenko, educator and writer
- April 15 — Konstantin Petrovich Grigorovich, engineer and professor
- May 11
- *Polina Osipenko, military pilot
- *Anatoly Serov, fighter pilot
- May 19 — Karl Radek, politician
- May 21 — Grigori Sokolnikov, economist and politician
- July 29 — Vilhelm Knorin, politician
- September 11 — Konstantin Korovin, painter
- October 7 — Boris Shchukin, actor
- December 25 — Ivan Dmitriyevich Borisov, military pilot