The story
From Stakhanov + -ian, named after Russian coal miner Алексе́й Григо́рьевич Стаха́нов (Aleksei Grigor’evich Stakhanov) whose prodigious output was publicised by Stalin as part of a 1935 campaign.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Stakhanovian
Today it means: Extremely productive or hard-working, especially in the context of the former USSR, where such workers could earn special rewards. Full definition →