He is. It's pretty much left at that, though. It's a pity he's not further discussed in at least higher-level World History education as Yuri's story is quite interesting (even up to why he decided to go on that flight that he did), and my understanding is that he was looked up to even by U.S. astronauts.
On one of the Apollo missions (11), a medal commemorating Yuri's first flight was placed on the moon by the NASA astronauts. The medal was commissioned by the British government and contained inscriptions in both English and Russian languages. It was among other items commemorating fallen astronauts/cosmonauts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin#Tributes)
I'm aware of this because my grandfather hand engraved the medal.
