Pavel Ivanovich Beliaev

Born June 26, 1925, in the village of Chelishchevo, Vologda Oblast; died Jan. 10, 1970, in Moscow. A space pilot of the USSR; colonel; Hero of the Soviet Union (Mar. 23, 1965). Joined the CPSU in 1949. Born into the family of a doctor’s assistant.

After graduation from secondary school in 1942, Beliaev went to work in a plant. In 1943 he enlisted in the Soviet Army. He was accepted into the Eisk Aviation School for Naval Fighter Pilots, from which he graduated in 1945. He took part in the war with Japan. In 1959 he graduated from the Air Force Academy (now the Gagarin Air Force Academy). As commander of the space ship Voskhod-2, he completed a space flight together with A. A. Leonov. The ship that he piloted was put into orbit on Mar. 18, 1965, and orbited the earth 17 times during its 26 hours in space, for a distance of over 720,000 km. Beliaev was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals; he held the titles of Hero of Socialist Labor of the Bulgarian People’s Republic, Hero of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, and Hero of the Mongolian People’s Republic; he also received many foreign orders and medals.