Marina
Popovich was born on July 20, 1937 in the town of Velizh
in Smolenskaya region into a peasant family. On the very
first day of mobilization during the Great Patriotic War,
her father went to the front leaving four children on his
wife's hands, Marina being the eldest of them. Two months
of heavy fighting near Smolensk and the subsequent Fascist
occupation entailed hardship, hunger, suppression and deadly
danger. Then there were the ordeals of the evacuation to
Novosibirskaya region. Life full of dangers and work alongside
adults, as well as the responsibility for younger inmates
have hardened the girl. Witnessing air battles and craving
for Soviet soldiers to win have contributed to the formation
of her strong character. That was the time when the girl
got a dream, seemingly unachievable, to become a pilot,
and not just a pilot, but a test pilot.
Since
then, her entire life becomes the embodiment of that dream.
In
1954, Marina Popovich graduates from the Novosibirsk Aviation
College, completes primary flight training at the Novosibirsk
flying club, seeks a personal audience with Kliment Voroshilov
and receives a referral to the Saransk flight school of
the Voluntary Association for Assistance to Army, Aviation
and Fleet (DOSAAF). On leaving the school, she works as
an instructor pilot, DOSAAF pilot inspector and participates
in parades, flying over the skies of Moscow.
Later,
Marina Popovich got an audience with the Chief Marshal
of Aviation Konstantin Vershinin, and in 1962, was called
out for active military service in the Armed Forces of
the USSR. She received a referral to the space regiment,
which later, was named after Vladimir Seregin. Marina
Popovich passed a medical examination, but was not admitted
to the team of cosmonauts for political reasons. Following
the advice of academician Boris Rauschenbach, Marina Popovich
decided to devote her life to military aircraft testing.
In
1963, Marina Popovich was retrained to manage the supersonic
MiG-21 (the Mikoyan-Gurevich jet fighter aircraft). At
the same time, she continued her studies at the Kiev Institute
of Aviation, and then at the Leningrad Academy of Civil
Aviation named after A.A. Novikov. She defended her thesis
on Aerodynamics on the theme Flight Distance Increase
due to Laminarization.
In
1964, she was one of the first women enrolled in the board
of the State Red-Banner Research and Development Institute
of the Air Force named after V.P. Chkalov (the NII VVS
named after V.P. Chkalov). For twenty years, she was working
as a test pilot. During these years, she
flew 5,600 hours. She mastered
42 types of aircraft and helicopters, including the An-22
(Antey). Being an
Air Force colonel and a military test pilot of the first
class, she tested the most modern military aircraft in
the NII VVS named after V.P. Chkalov and the Antonov Design
Bureau. She holds 101 world records
and 126 all-Soviet Union records set on various types
of aircraft. For her outstanding achievements
in aviation, Marina Popovich received
five highest international awards,
including the Grand Gold Medal of the FAI (Fédération
Aéronautique Internationale).
Today
there might be no country in the world where the name
of Marina Popovich would be unknown. She is an honorary
citizen of such cities as: Samarkand, Chemeshelya, Abinsk,
Budyonnovsk and Velizh.
Marina
Popovich was awarded the highest
honor of her motherland - "Gold Star" of Hero
of Socialist Labor. She was
also awarded the Order of the Red Star,
the Order of the Red Banner of Labour,
the Order of the Badge of Honour and many medals,
including the Paul Tissandier Gold Medal and the S.P.
Korolev Gold Medal. On January 14th, 2007,
the Russian Federation Government awarded
her the honorary title "The Hero of the Nation".
For her activities, Marina Popovich received
a number of public awards,
including the Order of Peter the Great,
the Order of Alexander Nevsky and the order "The
Pride of Russia".
Marina
Popovich is known not only as an outstanding test pilot,
her versatile talent has clearly manifested in science
and literature as well.
She
is a professor,
a member of six academies,
including Peter's Academy of Sciences and Arts,
the International Academy of Ecology and Man and Nature
Protection Sciences,
Plato's Academy of Sciences (Paris),
the International Academy of Spiritual Unity of the World,
the President of the Academy named after P.K. Oschepkov
and the vice-principal of the International Institute
of Management.
As
the Grand President of CAKKUFORA (Central-Asian Kazakh
Kyrgyz UFO Research Association), this brave woman was
repeatedly on research expeditions in the mountains of
Tibet, the Pamir and the Altai Mountains, as well as in
Chile, U.S.A., Argentina, England and other countries.
Being
a member of the Writers' Union of Russia, Marina Popovich
is the author of 14 books totaling
over a million copies,
among which there are poetry collections,
a play and two screenplays. Her literary work
is awarded the Lenin Komsomol prize "Podmoskovie",
the Alexander Suvorov prize and the International Lomonosov
prize.
From
2007 to the present day, Marina Popovich is the Vice-President
of the International Centre of the Roerichs.
Source:
http://en.icr.su/about/direction/vicepresident/