Signed photograph of Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, June 1961, by A. Petrov from IzoGiz (State Publishing House of Fine Arts), with Gagarin’s signature beneath. Gagarin wears three star medals on his left chest: the Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded 14 April 1961, the Hero of Socialist Labour, awarded April 1961, and the Hero of Socialist Labour of the People’s Republic of Bulgaria, awarded May 1961.

On 12 April 1961, Soviet Air Force pilot Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human to journey into outer space, marking a major step in the USSR-USA space race, and making him world famous. This flight to orbit the earth, in Vostok 1, was his only space flight, and thereafter Gagarin embarked on a world tour.

This portrait was taken in June 1961 during a break in his tour after visiting Czechoslovakia in April and Bulgaria in May, before departing for Finland in early July. The opportunity was taken to produce official portraits. Gagarin’s international fame led to the proliferation of souvenir imagery like this photograph, which was used to produce official postcards in 1962.