Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko

Sniper, Hero of the Soviet Union (25 October 1943) and Major, among the most effective snipers of the Second World War. Born on 12 July 1916 in Bila Tserkva, Kiev province. She studied history at Kiev University and took up marksmanship through a shooting club. She volunteered for the army in June 1941 and was posted to the 54th Stepan Razin Rifle Regiment of the 25th Chapayev Rifle Division. She fought in the defence of Odessa and then of Sevastopol. She is credited with 309 enemy soldiers and officers killed, including 36 snipers — the figure as officially credited to her. Wounded in June 1942, she was evacuated from Sevastopol. In the autumn of 1942 she travelled with a Soviet youth delegation to the United States, Canada and Britain, speaking publicly in support of opening a second front, visiting the White House and meeting Eleanor Roosevelt. The tour became one of the most prominent episodes of wartime public diplomacy. After the war she returned to historical work as a research fellow. She died in Moscow on 27 October 1974 and is buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.