Uborevich, Ieronim

Born Jan. 2 (14), 1896, in the village of Antandriius, in what is now Utena Raion, Lithuanian SSR; died June 11,1937. Soviet military figure. Army commander first class (1935). Member of the Communist Party from March 1917.

The son of a Lithuanian peasant, Uborevich graduated from the Konstantin Artillery School in 1916 and served as a sublieutenant during World War I. After the October Revolution of 1917, he helped organize the Red Guard in Bessarabia. In January and February 1918, Uborevich commanded a revolutionary detachment fighting Rumanian and Austro-German interventionists; he was wounded and captured, but he escaped in August 1918. Uborevich served as an artillery instructor and commanded the Dvina Brigade on the Northern Front. In December 1918 he took command of the 18th Rifle Division of the Sixth Army. From October 1919 to February 1920 he was commander of the Fourteenth Army in the rout of General Denikin’s forces, and from March to April 1920 he commanded the Ninth Army in the Northern Caucasus. From May to July and from November to December 1920, Uborevich commanded the Fourteenth Army in battles against bourgeois Polish forces and Petliura’s supporters, and from July to November 1920 he led the Thirteenth Army against Wrangel’s troops.

In 1921, Uborevich was appointed assistant commander of troops in the Ukraine and the Crimea, deputy commander of troops in Tambov Province, and commander of troops in Minsk Province; he led troops in combat against the bands of Makhno, Antonov, and Bulak-Balakhovich. In August 1921 he took command of the Fifth Army and the Eastern Siberia Military District. From August to December 1922, Uborevich served as minister of war of the Far East Republic and commander in chief of the People’s Revolutionary Army in the liberation of the Far East. He was appointed commander of troops of the Northern Caucasian (1925), Moscow (1928), and Byelorussian (1931) military districts. Uborevich served as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the USSR in 1926. In 1930 and 1931 he was deputy chairman of the council and chief of armaments of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army. In 1934 he was appointed a member of the Military Council of the People’s Commissariat of Defense.

Uborevich played a vital role in strengthening the defense capability of the USSR and training officers and troops. He was a candidate member to the Central Committee of the ACP(B) from 1930 to 1937. In December 1922 he was elected a member of the All-Union Central Executive Committee. Uborevich was awarded three Orders of the Red Banner and the Honorary Revolutionary Weapon.