Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan

Marshal of the Soviet Union (1955) and twice Hero of the Soviet Union, commander of the 1st Baltic Front. Born on 2 December 1897 in the village of Chardakhlu, Elizavetpol province (now in Azerbaijan), into an Armenian family. He served in the First World War, joined the Red Army in 1920 and graduated from the Frunze Military Academy and the General Staff Academy. He met the war as head of the operations department of the Southwestern Front staff, taking part in the heavy defensive operations of 1941 in Ukraine and escaping the Kiev encirclement. In 1942 he commanded the 16th Army on the Western Front and in 1943 the 11th Guards Army, which distinguished itself in the Oryol operation. From November 1943 he commanded the 1st Baltic Front. During Operation Bagration his front attacked towards Vitebsk and Polotsk, then carried out the Shaulyai and Memel operations, reaching the Baltic and cutting off Army Group North in Courland. From April 1945 he commanded the Zemland Group of Forces in the storming of Königsberg. He was made Hero of the Soviet Union on 29 July 1944 and received a second star in 1977. After the war he commanded the Baltic Military District and served as Deputy Minister of Defence and Chief of the Rear Services. He died on 21 September 1982 and is interred in the Kremlin Wall.