Official website of the President of Russia

The 2014 Russian Federation National Award for outstanding achievements in humanitarian work has been conferred to composer Alexandra Pakhmutova

Composer Alexandra Pakhmutova was born on November 9, 1929, in the village of Beketovka, near Stalingrad. She graduated from the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, and in 1956 completed postgraduate studies at the conservatory. She received the title of National Artist of the USSR (1984), and Hero of Socialist Labour (1990). She was awarded the USSR State Prize (1975, 1982), and the Russia-Belarus Union State Prize (2004). She was decorated with the Order of Lenin (1979, 1990), the Order of the Red Banner (1967, 1971), the Order of Peoples’ Friendship (1986), the Order for Services to the Fatherland II degree (1999), I degree (2009), and III degree (2014), and has also received numerous public and religious awards. 

Alexandra Pakhmutova’s work embodies a whole era in Russia’s life. She has written symphonic and instrumental music, vocal works, cantatas, and music for films, but it is her songs that hold a truly special place in Russian culture. For many years now, her songs have accompanied the biggest events in the country’s life, Russian and foreign performers have made them part of their repertoire, and they have won the love of audiences young and old.

Known for her sincere and goodhearted nature and never indifferent to her country’s fate, Alexandra Pakhmutova is a model of faultless decency, lofty moral sense, and humaneness.

Throughout her life, Alexandra Pakhmutova has successfully combined her work as a composer with active public work, making numerous trips around the country, and holding concerts and meetings with audiences. For more than 30 years, she was secretary of the board of the Union of Composers of the USSR and Russia, and was a member of the Presidium of the RSFSR Supreme Soviet. Since 2010, she has been a member of the Patriarchal Council for Culture.