Cherevichenko, Iakov

Born Sept. 30 (Oct. 12), 1894, in the village of Novoselovka, in what is now Orlovskii Raion, Rostov Oblast; died July 4, 1976, in Moscow. Soviet military commander; colonel general (1941). Member of the CPSU from 1919.

The son of a peasant, Cherevichenko fought in World War I as a senior noncommissioned officer. He entered the Red Guards in November 1917, later joining the Red Army. Cherevichenko served in the Civil War of 1918–20 as a platoon leader, a squadron commander, and a cavalry regiment commander. He graduated from cavalry courses in 1921, the Higher Cavalry School in 1924, and the M. V. Frunze Military Academy in 1935. In July 1940 he was appointed commander of the Odessa Military District.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, Cherevichenko was commander of the Ninth Army from June to September 1941, the Twenty-first Army from September to October 1941, the Southern Front from October to December 1941, and the Briansk Front from December 1941 to February 1942. He served as deputy commander of the Crimean and Northern Caucasus fronts from April to August 1942, commander of the Black Sea Group of Forces from September to October 1942, troop commander of the Fifth Army from October 1942 to February 1943, deputy troop commander of the Northwestern Front from April to September 1943, and commander of the Kharkov Military District in 1943 and 1944. In April 1945, he was appointed commander of a rifle corps on the First Byelorussian Front. Cherevichenko held various command positions after the war, retiring in May 1950.

Cherevichenko was a deputy to the first convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He was awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four Orders of the Red Banner, the Order of Kutuzov First Class, the Order of Suvorov Second Class, the Order of the Red Star, and various medals.