Orekhovo-Zuevo

Orekhovo-Zuevo 

a city under oblast jurisdiction and administrative center of Orekhovo-Zuevo Raion, Moscow Oblast, RSFSR. Situated on the Kliaz’ma River, a tributary of the Oka. Railroad junction of the Moscow-Vladimir and Kurovskaia-Aleksandrov lines, 89 km east of Moscow. Population, 125,000 (1974; 62,800 in 1926, 99,000 in 1939). Orekhovo-Zuevo was formed in the mid-19th century as a result of the merger of the large capitalist enterprises in the settlements of Zuevo, Nikol’skoe, Orekhovo, and Dubrovka. It received its name in 1917.

Textile production was begun in 1797 by Savva Morozov, a serf weaver of the landowner Riumin. In 1879, Orekhovo-Zuevo had 14 factories with 13,800 workers, and in 1890, 17 factories with 30,500 workers. The first strikes took place there in 1863; the Morozov strike of 1885 was the largest in Russia. The first social democratic workers’ circle was organized in August 1892 by N. E. Fedoseev. The Orekhovo-Bogorodsk raion committee of the RSDLP, headed by I. V. Babushkin, was founded in 1901. The workers in Orekhovo-Zuevo were active in the Revolution of 1905–07; in October 1905 a soviet of workers’ deputies was created. Soviet power was established on Oct. 25 (Nov. 7), 1917. A detachment of workers from Orekhovo-Zuevo took part in the fighting leading to the establishment of Soviet power in Moscow in October and November 1917.

In the Soviet period Orekhovo-Zuevo has become a major industrial center of Moscow Oblast. Textile production continues to be the leading industry, and textile enterprises, such as the Orekhovo-Zuevo Cotton Textile Combine and a silk factory, have been expanded and rebuilt. The city also produces machines (including peat-cutting machines and equipment for the textile industry), plastics, and building materials. It has a pedagogical institute and technicums in the fields of chemical engineering, textiles, industrial procedures, and industrial arts instruction. It also has a medical school and a teacher-training school, as well as a drama theater and a museum of the history of the Revolution. In 1970, Orekhovo-Zuevo was awarded the Order of the October Revolution.