Ivan Konev

Ivan Stepanovich Konev Иван Степанович Конев
Born	28 December 1897 Lodeyno, Nikolsky District, Vologda Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	21 May 1973 Moscow, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Cause of death	Cancer
Nationality	Russian

Ivan Stepanovich Konev (28 December 1897 – 21 May 1973) was a prominent Soviet general, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, and Marshal of the Soviet Union from 20 February 1944 until his death in May 1973.

Life

Early life

Konev was born into a peasant family in Lodeyno, Vologda Governorate, Russia, in 1897. Konev's mother died in childbirth. His paternal uncle, Fyodr Ivanovich Konev, was an officer in the Tsar's Army. Konev was conscripted to fight in World War I in 1916.

Interwar period

During the Russian Civil War, Konev fought against Alexander Kolchak's White Army while also helping suppress the Kronstadt mutiny. After the Civil War, Konev studied at the M. V. Frunze Military Academy, graduating in 1926, before serving various posts in the Caucasus and the Far East.

Second World War

During the Great Patriotic War, Konev covered the Red Army's retreat during the Battles of Smolensk and Moscow, took part in the Winter campaign of 1941–1942, and played a key role in the liberations of Kursk, Belgorod, Kharkov, Kiev, Odessa, Cherkasy, Poltava, Kremenchuk, Kraków, Wrocław, Berlin, and Prague.

Postwar

Afterwards, Konev served as Chief of the Soviet Army from 1946 to 1950 and Supreme Commander of the Warsaw Pact from 1955 to 1960. He used the latter position to put down the reactionary Hungarian Uprising of 1956. Konev had connections with many Western leaders, having personally met Omar Bradley and representing the Soviet delegation to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's funeral in 1965. Konev published his memoirs in 1969, and died on 21 May 1973.