Leonid Govorov

Leonid Govorov was a Soviet military commander who played a key role in the defense and liberation of Leningrad during World War II. He joined the Red Army in 1920 and graduated from several military academies, becoming an expert in artillery. He participated in the Winter War against Finland in 1939-1940 as a senior artillery officer. In World War II, he rose to command an army in November 1941 during the Battle of Moscow. He was appointed as the commander of the Leningrad Front in April 1942 and remained in this position until the end of the war. He successfully coordinated the operations to break the siege of Leningrad in January 1943 and to drive the German forces out of the Baltic region in 1944-1945. He was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1944 and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and many other honors. After the war, he held various high-ranking positions in the Soviet military, such as the Chief Inspector of Ground Forces, the Commander of National Air Defense Forces, and the Deputy Minister of Defense. He died of a heart attack in 1955 and was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. He was the father of Soviet General Vladimir Govorov and the grandfather of Russian politician Leonid Govorov.