Ivan Konev(1897-1973)

Soviet commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), holder of the Order of Victory (1945). Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1952-1973). Soviet commander, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), holder of the Order of Victory (1945). Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1952-1973). After the war, from June in 1945 - the commander in chief of the Central Group of Forces in Austria and the High Commissioner for Austria. Since July 1946 - Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces - Deputy Minister of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Since March 1950, he was the chief inspector of the Soviet Army - deputy Minister of War of the USSR. Since November 1951 - commander of the Carpathian Military District. In 1953 - Chairman of the Special Judicial Presence, who tried Lavrenty Beria and sentenced him to death. Since May 1955 - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR and Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces. In 1956-1960 - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, from 1955 - at the same time Commander-in-Chief of the Joint Armed Forces of the Warsaw Pact countries. In this capacity, he led the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian uprising. On October 25, 1957, during the expulsion of Marshal Zhukov from the party Central Committee, he sided with his opponents. On November 3, 1957, in the press organ of the Central Committee of the CPSU, the newspaper Pravda published his article "The Strength of the Soviet Army and Navy - in the party's leadership, in indissoluble connection with the people". In it, in particular, it was argued that "Zhukov did not justify the confidence of the party," turned out to be a politically untenable figure, prone to adventurism in understanding the most important tasks of Soviet foreign policy and in leading the Ministry of Defense. "From June 1960 to August 1961 and from April 1962 - in the Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR. In August 1961 - April 1962, during the Berlin crisis, he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. On January 30, 1965, as part of the Soviet government delegation, he participated in the funeral of the former Prime Minister Istra Winston Churchill. He died May 21, 1973 from cancer. He was buried in Red Square near the Kremlin wall.