Report about mt Kalashnikov. Biography of Mikhail Kalashnikov: a brilliant designer

Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeevich short biography Russian designer small arms, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Lieutenant General, creator of the Kalashnikov assault rifle is described in this article.

Biography of Kalashnikov Mikhail Timofeevich

Mikhail Kalashnikov was born November 10, 1919 in the village of Kurya, in the Altai Territory, in a large family. After graduating from 10th grade, he went to work in order to help his family financially at a machine and tractor station. Afterwards he leaves for Kazakhstan, finding a place for himself in the depot of the Turkestan-Siberian railway.

In 1938, he was drafted into the army to serve in the Kiev Special Military District, where he served as a tank driver mechanic. In the army, the guy's inventive abilities showed themselves - Mikhail designed a special attachment for the TT pistol, a device for measuring the service life of a tank engine. For his latest invention, he received a personalized watch from G. Zhukov as a reward. Kalashnikov is redirected to Leningrad.

With the advent of the Great Patriotic War everyone went to the front. Who was Mikhail Kalashnikov during the war? A tank commander who was wounded in the 1941 battle near Bryansk and sent on leave.

Designer Mikhail Kalashnikov could not sit idle and invented the first model of a submachine gun. After this, he is sent to a military plant in Izhevsk to supervise the production of machine guns. Here he invented the world-famous Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK), which came off the machine in 1947. For the invention of the machine gun, Mikhail Timofeevich was awarded the Stalin Prize and the Order of the Red Star.

For his inventions he received a scientific degree, namely Mikhail Timofeevich became a Doctor of Technical Sciences in 1971. In addition, having the military rank of lieutenant general, he was a Lenin Prize laureate, twice Hero of Socialist Labor and Laureate Stalin Prize. Also, in 2009, Kalashnikov was awarded the title of Hero of Russia according to the decree of President D. Medvedev.

If we talk about the scientific field, then here he also has his own awards: membership in International Academy Sciences Russian Academy Sciences, membership in the US education and arts industry and many other international scientific institutions.

There is a saying that talented person talented in everything. This also applies to Mikhail Timofeevich, who also had writing talent. He published several books and an autobiography, for which he received membership in the Writers' Union Russian Federation.

IN 2013 year the inventor fell ill and after long-term treatment died on December 23 of the same year.

As for my personal life. The designer Kalashnikov was married twice. The first wife was Ekaterina Danilovna Astakhova; they met at work, when Mikhail Timofeevich was still working at the Matai station railway depot. The marriage produced a son, Victor. Soon his wife died and, having left to work at a plant in Izhevsk, Kalashnikov met his second wife Ekaterina Viktorovna. Having married her, he takes his son to him. In marriage with Ekaterina, three children were born - Nellie, Natalya (she died in a car accident, Kalashnikov was very sad about her, Natalya was his favorite) and Elena. It is worth noting that his wife Ekaterina Viktorovna was a design technician by training and was engaged in drawing work for her husband.

In the ranks of the Red Army. After graduating from the tank driver school, he passed conscript service in the Kiev Special Military District. In the army, he developed an inertial counter to record the actual number of shots fired from tank gun, made a special device for the TT pistol to increase the efficiency of firing through slits in the tank turret, and created a device for measuring the service life of a tank engine.

For the latest invention, the commander of the Kyiv Military District, General Georgy Zhukov, awarded Kalashnikov a personalized watch.

In June 1941, Kalashnikov was sent to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) to put the invention into production.

Mikhail Kalashnikov began the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) in August 1941 as a tank commander. In October 1941, in the battles near Bryansk, he was seriously wounded. While on six-month leave for health reasons, Senior Sergeant Kalashnikov developed his first model of a submachine gun.

Among the numerous awards of Mikhail Kalashnikov are three Orders of Lenin, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, October revolution, Red Banner of Labor, Friendship of Peoples, Patriotic War I degree, Red Star, medals. Mikhail Kalashnikov is a holder of the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.

Kalashnikov was an honorary member (academician) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences, and the Russian Academy of Engineering; full member - academician of the International Academy of Sciences, Industry, Education and Art of the USA, International Academy of Informatization, honorary professor of Izhevsk State technical university, a number of other large scientific institutions.

Mikhail Kalashnikov wrote several books of memoirs: “Notes of a gunsmith designer” (1992), “From someone else’s threshold to the Spassky Gate” (1997), “I walked the same road with you: Memoirs” (1999), “Kalashnikov: the trajectory of fate” (2004), “In the whirlwind of my life” (2007), “Everything you need is simple” (2009). He was a member of the Russian Writers' Union.

Since 2002, the Interregional Public Fund named after M.T. has existed in Izhevsk. Kalashnikov, who is working to popularize the activities famous designer and other Russian gunsmiths.

In 2012, the name of Mikhail Kalashnikov was assigned to Izhevsk State Technical University.

In August 2013, NPO Izhmash joined OJSC Concern Kalashnikov.

On November 15, 2013, in the designer’s native village of Kurya, it received the status of a branch of the Altai State Museum of Local Lore.

Mikhail Kalashnikov was married, his wife Ekaterina Kalashnikova (1921-1977) worked as a design technician and helped her husband carry out drawing work.

Four children were born into their family: daughters Nellie (1942), Elena (1948), Natalya (1953-1983), son Victor (1942).

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was born on November 10, 1919. Soviet and Russian designer, creator of the Kalashnikov assault rifle, which is familiar to residents of all world countries. Small Motherland Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov is the village of Kurya, Altai Territory. The designer came from large family, in which 19 children were born, but only 8 people survived, including Mikhail Timofeevich. Kalashnikov's parents were peasants.

Timofey Alexandrovich was recognized as a kulak in 1930, so the family was sent to the village of Nizhnyaya Mokhovaya, Tomsk Region. Even as a child, the young designer showed interest in technical means, studied the principles of operation of mechanisms. IN school years Kalashnikov demonstrated knowledge of geometry and physics, but literature was also easy for him.

Only after finishing 7th grade did Mikhail Timofeevich decide to return to Altai, but he could not find work in the region, so he returned to his family. Due to belonging to the kulak family for a long time Kalashnikov could not obtain a passport, but then he forged the seal of the local commandant’s office on the certificate and the document ended up in his hands.

Mikhail returns to Altai again. At this time, the first acquaintance with the design of the weapon occurs. The young man was able to disassemble the Browning pistol. When Kalashnikov turned 18, the designer moved to Kazakhstan. The guy was hired at the depot of the Matai station of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway. Mikhail not only communicated with mechanics and machinists, but also gained knowledge about the technology that he had admired since childhood.

In 1938, Mikhail Timofeevich went to serve in the Red Army. The service took place in the Kiev Special Military District. After some time, Kalashnikov became a tank driver, after which the designer was transferred to the 12th tank division. While serving in the Red Army, Mikhail created an inertial counter for shots from a tank gun. Also among the developments young man There was equipment to improve the efficiency of shooting from a TT pistol, and a tank life meter.

In 1942, this device was sent to mass production. Unfortunately, hostilities prevented the project from being implemented. Kalashnikov personally reported about this equipment to the commander of the Kyiv Special Military District, Army General.

After the conversation, Mikhail Timofeevich is sent to the Kiev Tank School, where he creates prototypes and conducts research. Later, Kalashnikov moved to Moscow, where he continued to work on equipment. Already at the Leningrad plant named after. Mikhail and the craftsmen modified the counter.

Great designer

During the Great Patriotic War, Kalashnikov was seriously wounded, so he was treated in the hospital for several weeks, and after that the man was sent on leave. Mikhail Timofeevich devoted this time to creating a submachine gun.

After his own sample was brought to the required condition, Kalashnikov sent it to the competition. The commission was not delighted, since, according to experts, the weapon is expensive and complex. For comparison, we took PPSh and PPS. Despite this, the designer’s talent was noticed.

In 1942, Mikhail Timofeevich was recruited to serve in the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army. A man supplies weapons to the ranks of military personnel. The leadership soon gave Kalashnikov new task: the designer needed to develop a weapon based on an “intermediate” cartridge with a caliber of 7.62x39 mm. A pistol or machine gun must have a firing range of 200-800 meters.

In addition to Mikhail Timofeevich, designers who already had experience took part in the competition. Thanks to this, the Simonov self-loading carbine appeared in the army, light machine gun Degtyareva. The Kalashnikov assault rifle was a complex design. None of the gunsmith's samples met the requirements of the competition. The first stage ended with improvements, and the second - with the victory of the young participants. On the Internet you can see photos of Kalashnikov, who is passionate about his work.

Mikhail Timofeevich was in no hurry to innovate, and brilliant ideas the designer cannot be named. Meanwhile, the machine is designed from high-quality components and mechanisms that have been tested in practice. The weapon is capable of firing in any situation, including after exposure to water or dirt. There is no difficulty in cleaning or disassembling.

Thanks to known designs, the Kalashnikov assault rifle can be manufactured using existing equipment in large quantities. The cost of weapons is considered low. Mikhail Timofeevich created the machine gun not as a designer, but as an ordinary soldier, for whom it was important that the device be simple, convenient and understandable.

At the age of 30, Mikhail Kalashnikov became a laureate of the Stalin Prize. The designer received the Order of the Red Star for his unique development. Immediately after this, the machine gun was transferred to production in Izhevsk arms factory. The designer moved to Udmurtia to actively participate in the creation of weapons. Mikhail Timofeevich constantly improved the invention.

For a long time, Kalashnikov tried to establish production, since during the process there were a lot of defects, including receiver. The specialist changed the technology and opted for milling, which significantly increased the cost of equipment production. As soon as the problem was solved, I returned to the original idea.

Soon the gunsmith created new modification AKM. Since that time, Kalashnikov assault rifles and machine guns have become the main infantry small arms, since the creations of Simonov and Degtyarev were discontinued. In the 70s, they decided to adopt low-pulse 5.45x39 mm cartridges. A competition was announced among designers. Mikhail Timofeevich was awarded the victory again.

Back in the 50s, Kalashnikov weapons began to be supplied to the Organization’s allies Warsaw Pact, other countries with which the USSR had friendly relations. But the black market for weapons was already thriving in those days, so many underground fighters began to copy the creation of Mikhail Timofeevich.

Foreign companies took the Kalashnikov assault rifle as a basis, but supplemented it with their own developments, which were mainly expressed in a new design. Despite the fact that the weapon received a new name in each country, the AK remained itself. The Kalashnikov assault rifle remains to this day one of the most popular and reliable in the world. AK occupies 15% of the weapons world.

In 1963, Mikhail Timofeevich began developing an RPKS equipped with a folding stock and a night vision sight. At the same time, Kalashnikov tried to develop automatic pistol for 9x18 cartridges. But the gunsmith could not compete with Stechkin. Give sufficient quantity Mikhail Timofeevich could not pay attention to this development, as he was fascinated by the field of machine guns and machine guns.

Already in the 1970s, Kalashnikov tried a new field of activity - hunting carbines. The gunsmith took his own machine gun as a basis. Immediately after testing, the carbines were sent into production. In 1992, the master creates a self-loading hunting rifle"Saiga" equipped with an optical sight.

Personal life

In the biography of Mikhail Kalashnikov there are 2 marriages. The man’s first wife was Ekaterina Danilovna Astakhova, who was born in the Altai Territory and later worked at the Matai station railway depot. In 1942, a son, Victor, appeared in the family. Later, Mikhail Timofeevich and Ekaterina Danilovna broke up. The ex-wife and child remained in Kazakhstan. In 1956, the woman died suddenly, so Kalashnikov moved his son to Izhevsk.

Mikhail Timofeevich’s second wife was Ekaterina Viktorovna Moiseeva. The woman worked as a design technician. From her first marriage the woman had a daughter, Nelly. But Kalashnikov adopted the girl.

Later, more children appeared in the family - Natalya and Elena, the latter holds the post of president of the Interregional Public Fund named after. M.T. Kalashnikov. Unfortunately, Natalya died at the age of 30. Mikhail Timofeevich was known as a happy father and grandfather. The children gave birth to five grandchildren: Mikhail, Alexander, Evgeniy and Alexander, Igor.

Death

Kalashnikov started having health problems in 2012. The designer's assistant stated that this was the reason for leaving his job. In December of the same year, the man was hospitalized at the Republican Clinical Diagnostic Center of Udmurtia for a routine examination. Another deterioration in health was recorded in the summer of 2013. Mikhail Timofeevich was transported to Moscow by means of an EMERCOM aircraft with special equipment.

“Due to the need for a medical examination, the doctors decided to send Mikhail Timofeevich to one of the Moscow clinics,” the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations said.

Moscow doctors diagnosed the gunsmith with pulmonary embolism. For several weeks, the capital’s doctors pored over Kalashnikov. As a result, the man’s well-being improved, after which the designer returned home to Izhevsk.

In November, Mikhail Timofeevich felt unwell again, so on the 17th the designer was hospitalized intensive care unit Republican Clinical Diagnostic Center of Udmurtia. Kalashnikov’s relatives believe that the gunsmith’s health was affected by preparations for the celebrations on the occasion of Mikhail Timofeevich’s 94th birthday.

In early December, Kalashnikov underwent emergency surgery, but surgical intervention worsened the condition of the designer. After a month, doctors did not notice any visible improvements. A few days before his death, the gunsmith was transferred to intensive care due to stomach bleeding. The death of Mikhail Timofeevich became known on December 23.

Farewell to Mikhail Kalashnikov took place on December 25 and 26, and the funeral service took place in St. Michael’s Cathedral in Izhevsk. In connection with the death of the designer, mourning was declared in Udmurtia by order of the head of the region. Kalashnikov's funeral took place in the Pantheon of Heroes of the Federal War Memorial Cemetery.

The burial ceremony was attended by officials and key figures of the state, including Andrei Vorobyov and. Expressed condolences CEO state company "Rostec". A monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov appeared on the Garden Ring in Moscow. The designer was awarded medals for the created weapon " Golden Star" and "Hammer and Sickle".

Inventions

• Inertial counter of shots from a tank gun
• AK-47
• Kalashnikov light machine gun
• Kalashnikov machine gun
• Kalashnikov assault rifle 100 series
• Self-loading hunting carbine "Saiga"
• Automatic Kalashnikov pistol

Awards

• 1946 – medal “For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
• 1947 – Order of the October Revolution
• 1949 – Order of the Red Star
• 1958, 1969, 1976 – Order of Lenin
• 1958, 1976 – Hero of Socialist Labor
• 1958, 1976 – Hammer and Sickle medal
• 1975 – Order of the Red Banner of Labor
• 1982 – Order of Friendship of Peoples
• 1985 – Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
• 1993 – Zhukov medal
• 1994 – Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree
• 1998 – Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called
• 2004 – Order of Military Merit
• 2009 – Hero of the Russian Federation
• 2009 – Gold Star medal

Born November 10, 1919, Kurya, Altai province, died December 23, 2013, outstanding designer small arms in the USSR and Russia, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Lieutenant General.

Twice Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Stalin and Lenin Prizes, Hero of the Russian Federation, holder of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, member of the Union of Writers of Russia. Member of the CPSU since 1952, deputy of the Supreme Council of the USSR (1950-1954).

Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov is the only person, awarded the title of Hero of Russia and twice the title of Hero of Socialist Labor at the same time.

Biography

Born in the village of Kurya, Altai Territory. He was the seventeenth child in a large peasant family, in which nineteen children were born and eight survived. In 1930, the family of his father, Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov, recognized as a kulak, was exiled from the Altai Territory to the Tomsk region, the village of Nizhnyaya Mokhovaya. From childhood he was interested in technology, studying with interest the structure and operating principles of various mechanisms. At school I was interested in physics, geometry and literature. After finishing the seventh grade, with the permission of his parents, he returned to Altai, to Kurya, but was unable to get a job. After studying there for another year, he decided to return to his mother and stepfather in Siberia, where, having corrected the date of birth in the documents, he received a passport. A few months later, after returning to Kurya again, he became acquainted with the design of a weapon for the first time, disassembling a Browning pistol with his own hands. At the age of 18, he left his native village and moved to Kazakhstan, where he began working as an accountant at the depot of the Matai station of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway. Communication with machinists, turners, and depot mechanics strengthened Mikhail’s interest in technology and aroused the desire to do something himself.

In the fall of 1938, he was drafted into the Red Army in the Kiev Special Military District. After the course for junior commanders, he received the specialty of a tank driver and served in a tank regiment in Stryi (Western Ukraine). Already there he showed his inventive abilities - he developed an inertial counter for shots from a tank cannon, an adaptation for a TT pistol to increase the efficiency of firing through slots in the tank turret, and a counter for the service life of a tank. The last invention was quite significant, as evidenced by the fact that Kalashnikov was summoned to report about it to the commander of the Kyiv Special Military District, Army General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. After a conversation with the commander, he goes to the Kiev Tank technical school for the production of prototypes, and after completion of the tests to Moscow for comparative tests and then to the Leningrad Voroshilov Plant, for refinement and launch into series.

He began the Great Patriotic War in August 1941 as a tank commander with the rank of senior sergeant, and in October he was seriously wounded near Bryansk. In the hospital I really got excited about the idea of ​​​​creating my own sample automatic weapons. He began to make sketches and drawings, comparing and analyzing his own impressions of the battles, the opinions of his comrades in arms, and the contents of the books in the hospital library. The advice of one paratrooper lieutenant, who had worked at some research institute before the war and had a good knowledge of small arms systems and the history of their creation, was also useful.

At the direction of the doctors, he was sent for further treatment on a six-month leave.

Returning to Matai, with the help of specialists, the depot was created three months later prototype his first model of a submachine gun. From Matai he was sent to Alma-Ata, where he produced a more advanced model in the training workshops of the Moscow aviation institute evacuated to the capital of Kazakhstan. Later, the sample was presented to the head of the Military Engineering Academy named after. F. E. Dzerzhinsky to A. A. Blagonravov - an outstanding scientist in the field of small arms. Although Blagonravov's review was generally negative, he noted the originality and interestingness of the development and recommended that Senior Sergeant Kalashnikov be sent for further training. Later, the Kalashnikov submachine gun was presented to the Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army. Noting some shortcomings and a generally successful design, GAU specialists did not recommend adopting the Kalashnikov SMG for service for technological reasons. The conclusion read:
“The Kalashnikov submachine gun is more difficult and expensive to manufacture than PPSh-41 and PPS, and requires the use of scarce and slow milling work. Therefore, despite many attractive aspects (light weight, short length, the presence of a single fire, successful combination of translator and fuse, compact cleaning rod, etc.), in its present form it is not of industrial interest.”

Since 1942, Kalashnikov has been working at the Central Research Site small arms(NIPSMVO) Main Artillery Directorate of the Red Army. Here in 1944 he created a prototype self-loading carbine, which, although it did not go into production, partially served as a prototype for the creation of an assault rifle. Since 1945, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov began developing automatic weapons for intermediate cartridge 7.62×39 model 1943. The Kalashnikov assault rifle won the 1947 competition and was adopted for service. During development, he gets to know his future wife- draftsman of the Degtyarev Design Bureau Ekaterina Moiseeva.

In 1948, by order of the Chief Marshal of Artillery N.N. Voronov, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was sent to the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant for his author’s participation in the creation technical documentation and organizing the production of the first pilot batch of his AK-47 assault rifle. By May 20, 1949, the task was completed: 1,500 machine guns manufactured at Izhmash successfully passed military tests and were adopted Soviet army.

Subsequently, at the Izhevsk Machine-Building Plant, on the basis of the AK47 design, under the personal supervision of Kalashnikov, dozens of prototypes of automatic small arms were developed, but Kalashnikov himself, due to frequent visits to the shooting range and range shooting, received hearing impairment, which could not be restored later even with the help of modern medicine.

In 1971, based on the totality of research and development work and inventions, Kalashnikov was awarded academic degree Doctor of Technical Sciences. He is an academician of 16 different Russian and foreign academies.

In 1989, Mikhail Timofeevich decided to meet with Eugene Stoner, the creator of the main competitor of the AK, the M16 assault rifle; in the USA, Kalashnikov was greeted as a movie star, even though almost no one in the world knew his face. In 1994, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was awarded the rank of major general, and in 1999 the rank of lieutenant general.

Family

• Father - Kalashnikov Timofey Alexandrovich (1883-1930).
• Mother - Kalashnikova Alexandra Frolovna (1884-1957).
• Wife - Kalashnikova Ekaterina Viktorovna (1921-1977) - design technician by profession.
• Son - Victor (1942).
• Daughters: Nellie (1942), Elena (1948) and tragically deceased Natalya (1953-1983).

Recognition and awards

A lifetime monument to Mikhail Kalashnikov was erected in Izhevsk, author - sculptor Vladimir Kurochkin

Orders

• 1958, 1969, 1976 - Order of Lenin (three times)
• 1974 - Order of the October Revolution
• 1982 - Order of Friendship of Peoples
• 1985 - Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree
• 1994 - Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree - for outstanding services in the field of creating automatic small arms and significant contribution to the defense of the Fatherland
• 1998 - Order of St. Andrew the First-Called - for outstanding contribution to the defense of the Fatherland
• 1999 - Order of Honor, (Belarus) - for outstanding services in the development of unique types of small arms, great personal contribution to strengthening the defense potential of the Union of Belarus and Russia and in connection with the 80th anniversary
• 2003 - Order of Dostyk, 1st degree (Kazakhstan)
• 2004 - Order of Military Merit - for great personal contribution to the development of new types of weapons and strengthening the country's defense capability
• 2005 - Order of the Ruby Cross (International charitable foundation"Patrons of the Century")
• 2006 - Order of the Star of Carabobo (Venezuela)
• 2007 - Order of the Holy Blessed Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy, II degree (ROC)
• 2009 - Order of Merit Altai Territory» I degree.

Medals

• 2009 - Gold Star Medal
• 1958, 1976 - Hammer and Sickle Medal (twice)
• Medal "For victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
• Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
• Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
• Jubilee medal "Thirty years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Jubilee medal "Forty years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945"
• Jubilee medal "50 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
• Zhukov Medal
• Medal "For Excellence in Security state border THE USSR"
• Medal "Veteran of Labor" on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
• Jubilee medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Anniversary medal "40 years Armed Forces THE USSR"
• Anniversary medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Anniversary medal "60 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Jubilee medal "70 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "In memory of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"
• 2007 - Medal “Symbol of Science”
• Gold medal named after V. G. Shukhov

Awards

• 1948 - Stalin Prize
• 1949 - Stalin Prize
• 1964 - Lenin Prize
• 1997 - State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of design
• 2003 - Prize of the President of the Russian Federation in the field of education
• 2009 - Laureate of the All-Russian literary prize named after A.V. Suvorov.

Acknowledgments

• 1997 - Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation
• 1999 - Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation
• 2002 - Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation
• 2007 - Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation

Certificates

• 1997 - Certificate of Honor from the Government of the Russian Federation
• 1999 - Certificate of Honor from the Government of the Russian Federation
• 2004 - “Honorary Engineer of Kazakhstan” (Kazakhstan)

Other honors

• 1980 - in the homeland of M. T. Kalashnikov in the village of Kurye, a lifetime bronze bust was erected to him.
• 1997 - Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was awarded the title “ Honorable Sir Altai Territory".
• 1997 - the award of the Ministry of Economy of Russia was established - the Badge “Small Arms Designer M. T. Kalashnikov”
• 1999 - Union of Scientific and engineering organizations and the Government of Udmurtia established the M. T. Kalashnikov Prize
• 1999 - the Alrosa diamond company assigned the name “Constructor Mikhail Kalashnikov” to a jewelry diamond weighing 50.74 carats mined on December 29, 1995 (size 14.5x15.0x15.5 mm, Stones Black quality)
• 2002 - The cadet school in Votkinsk was named after M. T. Kalashnikov
• 2002 - a prize named after him was established at the School of Weaponry in Izhevsk
• 2004 - opened in Izhevsk Government agency culture "Museum of M. T. Kalashnikov"
• 2009 - Mikhail Kalashnikov received as a gift from President Hugo Chavez the highest award of the republic - a copy of the famous Simon Bolivar sword, which is a relic of Venezuela and the presentation of a copy is equivalent to the country's highest award.
• The name of Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov was awarded to the audience at military department Mining Institute of St. Petersburg.

Bibliography

• Kalashnikov M.T. Notes of a gunsmith designer. - M.: Voenizdat, 1992. - 304 p. - ISBN 5-203-01290-3
• Kalashnikov M.T. From someone else's threshold to the Spassky Gate / author. literature Records of Nemchenko G. L.; total ed. Nedelin A.V.. - M.: Military Parade, 1997. - 496 p.
• Kalashnikov M.T. I walked the same road with you: Memoirs. / ed. advice: I. Krasnovsky [and others]. - M.: House “All Russia”, 1999. - 239 p.
• Kalashnikov M.T. Kalashnikov: trajectory of fate / comp., prepared. Texts, ill. N. Shklyaeva. - M.: House “All Russia”, 2004. - P. 639.
• Kalashnikov M.T. In the whirlwind of my life. - 2008.
• Kalashnikov M.T. Everything you need is simple. - 2009.

Article from Wikipedia.

On November 10, 1919, in the ordinary Russian village of Kurya, in the Altai Territory, a man was born who literally created recent history Russian weapons. This person's name is Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov.

Mikhail is the 17th child in a quiet, peaceful peasant family, the son of Timofey Alexandrovich and Alexandra Frolovna Kalashnikov. From an early age, the boy was raised in strictness, taught to work in the fields, help with housework, and was instilled with hard work and perseverance. He grew up as a cheerful, active child, and was also very inquisitive and intelligent. Mikhail stood out among his peers for his interest in technology and love of books.

His first place of work was at the Matai station railway depot, where Mikhail entered as a student immediately after graduating high school. Later Mikhail Timofeevich began working as a technical secretary in one of the departments of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway. In 1938 Kalashnikov was drafted into the Red Army ( Workers' and Peasants' Red Army— explanation website ), to the Kyiv Special Military District. At the same time, he studied at a school for tank driver mechanics.

Mikhail Timofeevich became known as an inventor in 1941, when he invented inertia counter, which took into account the number of shots fired from a tank gun; special accessories for TT pistol (Tulsky-Tokarev model 1936), which allows pistol fire from slots in the turret; and device, which takes into account the service life of a tank engine.

During the Great Patriotic War, in October 1941, Mikhail Timofeevich was seriously wounded and had to be treated in hospital for some time. However, after treatment, the inventor returned to the drawings.

And very soon, in 1942, he invented a new submachine gun. Despite the fact that the weapon was not adopted by the army, Kalashnikov’s talent was highly appreciated by leading military experts of the USSR. As a result, Mikhail was sent to serve at the Central Research Range of Small Arms (NIPSVO) of the Main artillery control Red Army. It was there that the prototype was developed self-loading carbine, whose design of the main components subsequently became the basis for the creation of the machine.

Work on the creation of a new type of weapon went on for several years. In 1949, a product called “ 7.62 mm Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1947 (AK) "For this work, senior sergeant.

In subsequent years, until the 1970s, the designer devoted himself entirely to the further improvement and development of his brainchild. In the period from the 1950s to the 1970s, the following types of small arms were adopted by the Soviet Army:

• AKM— modernized Kalashnikov assault rifle
• AKMS— modernized Kalashnikov assault rifle with a folding stock
• AK-74- Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974
• AKS-74— Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974 with a folding stock
• AKS-74U— Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974 with a shortened barrel and a folding butt
• PKK- Kalashnikov light machine gun
• RPKS— Kalashnikov light machine gun with a folding stock
• RPKS-74— Kalashnikov light machine gun model 1974 with a folding butt
• PC- Kalashnikov machine gun
• PKS— Kalashnikov machine gun
• RMB— modernized Kalashnikov machine gun
• PCSM— modernized Kalashnikov machine gun
• PCT- Kalashnikov tank machine gun
• PCMT— modernized Kalashnikov tank machine gun
• PKB- Kalashnikov armored personnel carrier machine gun
• PKMB— modernized armored personnel carrier Kalashnikov machine gun

The Kalashnikov design bureau, created on the basis of the Izhmash plant, invented more than a hundred types of weapons, including the self-loading hunting "Saiga", which was designed on the basis of an assault rifle. "Saiga", like the AK itself, gained enormous popularity and earned high reviews in Russia and abroad.

Merits Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov to the country is difficult to overestimate. The designer was twice awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor and Lenin Prize laureate. In addition, Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov, Major General and Doctor of Technical Sciences, has highest award Russia - the Order of St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree, and many other orders and medals. In the homeland of Mikhail Timofeevich, his bronze bust was installed.

It was this man who started new era in world history weapons. This is the era of automatic weapons. The inventor instantly became the most significant figure of the twentieth century.

Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov said that his whole life was for protection, not for killing:

« I sleep peacefully because I have always created weapons for protection. It’s the politicians who can’t agree and use him to kill.”.

The great inventor died due to illness at the 95th year of his life, on December 23, 2013. He was buried on December 27, 2013 at the Pantheon of Heroes of the Federal War Memorial Cemetery. Russian President Vladimir Putin came to say goodbye to Mikhail Kalashnikov, as well as his closest aides, including Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov, and Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov.

Constructo died, but his work lives on. adopted for service in 55 countries of the world, created great amount copies of it. The machine gun is an element of symbolism in many states.