Nikita Izotov

Nikita Izotov is sometimes referred to (at least by specialists) as the "First Stakhanovite," because he was the first Soviet worker singled out by the press for a superhuman (and possibly bogus) act of labor. In his case, in 1936, he was praised for having mined far more coal than anyone else--dozens of times the quota.

For a brief period of time, Izotov was held up as a model worker, giving rise to the short-lived movement of Izotovism.

Izotovism was superceded by Stakhanovism the following year.