Honorary titles of Russia

Honorary titles of the Russian Federation (Russian: Почётные звания Российской Федерации) are titles given to citizens of the Russian Federation for professional and/or social achievements, but can be revoked by a vote in the State Duma. Rejection of honorary titles cannot be veto'd by the President. The word Заслуженный translates as meritorious or honoured.

During the period of the Soviet Union, a system of professional honorary titles was created to be used across the USSR to recognize outstanding personal professional achievements. The awards were also used in some other Eastern bloc states and communist countries. Post-Soviet states modelled some of their awards on the Soviet award system.

On 30 December 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed Presidential Decree № 1341 on the establishment of the system of honorary titles of the Russian Federation. Prior to that, the legal acts referred to honorary titles of the RSFSR. Most of the Soviet awards have been retained in the Russian Federation.

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