Lenin Komsomol Prize was a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 annual award for the best works in science, engineering, literature or art carried out by young authors of age not exceeding 33 years. Komsomol

Komsomol

The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...

 was the abbreviated name of The Communist Union of Youth (Russian: Коммунистический союз молодёжи; hence Ком-со-мол, Kom-so-mol).

The award was instituted by the Central Committee of VLKSM in March of 1966. The reason for the selection of this particular age threshold is unclear (the age threshold for Komsomol

Komsomol

The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...

 membership is 28). The coincidence of the upper threshold of 33 with the "age of Christ

Christ

Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...

" was a matter of jokes. Symbolically, the first winner of this award in the Soviet Union was writer Nikolay Ostrovsky (who had died aged 32 in 1936).

In addition to the all-Union prize, Union republics had republican versions of the prize, named respectively, e.g., Belarus Lenin Komsomol Prize, and awarded by the republican Komsomol branches.

The prizes were introduced as follows:

• In the field of science and technology - 1967;
• For great achievements in teaching - 1984;
• For great achievements in labour - 1986

The winner was known as "Lenin Komsomol Prize Laureate", and together with the diploma was awarded a medal.