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Ivan Stepanovich Konev Иван Степанович Конев | |
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| 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. Konev was one of the most important Red Army generals of the Great Patriotic War and played a significant role in the liberation of Eastern Europe.
Life[edit | edit source]
Early life[edit | edit source]
Konev was born into a peasant family in Lodeyno, Vologda Governorate, of the Russian Empire on 28 December 1897. Konev was conscripted to fight in World War I in 1916.[1]
Interwar period[edit | edit source]
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 1934, before serving various posts in the Caucasus and the Far East.[1]
Second World War[edit | edit source]
In the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Konev commanded the Nineteenth Army and was subsequently commander of the troops of the Western Front (from September 1941 to October 10 and from August 1942 to February 1943), the Kalinin Front (from Oct. 17, 1941), the Northwestern Front (from March 1943), the Steppe Front (from July 1943), the Second Ukrainian Front (from October 1943), and the First Ukrainian Front (from May 1944 to May 1945). The troops under Konev’s command participated in the battles of Moscow and Kursk, in the liberation of the Right-bank and Western Ukraine, and in the East Carpathian, Vistula-Oder, Berlin, and Prague operations.[1]
Postwar[edit | edit source]
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.[1] 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.[2]
Konev died on 21 May 1973 in Moscow and was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 The Great Soviet Encyclopedia: 'Konev, Ivan Stepanovich' (1979).
- ↑ Laurence Dodds (2015).: As it happened: The state funeral of Winston Churchill, January 30, 1965. The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2015-01-30. Retrieved 2022-01-03.