Viktor Nikolaevich Leonov

Born Nov. 8 (21), 1916, in Zaraisk, Moscow Oblast. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (Nov. 5, 1944, and Sept. 14, 1945); captain second rank (1952). Member of the CPSU since 1942.

Leonov worked as a metalworker. He entered the navy in 1937. In the Great Patriotic War (1941–45) he served in the Northern and Pacific fleets as deputy commander for political affairs of a naval reconnaissance detachment and, from May 1944, as commander of the detachment. He participated in the defense of the Soviet arctic region and in the liberation of Norway and Korea. He is a graduate of the Higher Naval School (1950) and of two courses of the Naval Academy. He has been in the reserve since July 1956. He is the author of the book Face to Face (1956). Leonov has been awarded the Order of Lenin, two Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the Red Star, various medals, and the Order of the Korean People’s Democratic Republic.