Pavel Belov

Born Feb. 6(18), 1897, in the town of Shuia; died Dec. 3, 1962, in Moscow. Colonel general (1944); Hero of the Soviet Union (Jan. 15, 1944). Joined the CPSU in 1925.

Belov was born into the family of an office worker. He joined the Soviet Army in 1918 and took part in the Civil War. He completed advanced courses for the commanding staff (1927), the Frunze Military Academy (1933), and Higher Academic Courses (1949). At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Belov commanded the I Guards Cavalry Corps (June 1941 to June 1942), which fought for five months at the enemy’s rear during the Battle of Moscow. Beginning in June 1942 he commanded the troops of the Sixty-first Army, which took part in the Battle of Kursk, the Battle of the Dnieper, and the Byelorussian, Vistula-Oder, East Pomeranian, and Berlin operations. After the war, he commanded the troops of the Don, Northern Caucasus, and Southern Urals military districts.

From 1955 to 1960, Belov was president of the Central Committee of the Voluntary Society for Assistance to the Army, Air Force, and Navy of the USSR. He retired in 1960. He was deputy to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR for the Second through Fifth convocations. Belov has been awarded four Orders of Lenin, three Orders of the Red Banner, three Orders of Suvorov First Class, the Order of Kutuzov First Class, a Mongolian order, and medals.