Konstantin Kalinovskii

Born Oct. 1 (13), 1897, in Smolensk; died July 12, 1931, in Moscow. Soviet military figure. Became a member of the CPSU in 1920. The son of an officer.

Kalinovskii volunteered for the Red Army in June 1918 and saw combat at Shenkursk in Arkhangelsk Province. He graduated from the Higher Military Motor Vehicle and Armor School in 1919, served on an armored train in combat on the Southern Front, and commanded with distinction an armored train on the Western Front in 1920. Inspector of the Administration of Armored Units of the Caucasian Army (1921–22), Kalinovskii graduated from the Military Academy of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army (RKKA) in 1925 and was a military advisor in China and then commander of an experimental mechanized regiment (1926–27). After being appointed inspector of the armored forces in 1929, Kalinovskii became deputy chief (and in February 1931 chief) of the Directorate of Mechanization and Motorization of the RKKA. His writings laid the foundation for the theory of the organization and combat use of Soviet armored forces. He died in a plane crash. Kalinovskii was awarded two Orders of the Red Banner.