Bonch-Bruevich, Mikhail Dmitrievich

Born Feb. 24 (Mar 8), 1870, in Moscow; died Aug. 3, 1956, in Moscow. Soviet military figure, doctor of military and technical sciences.

Bonch-Bruevich was born into the family of a land surveyor, the brother of V. D. Bonch-Bruevich. He graduated from the Moscow Land-Surveying Institute (1891), the Moscow Infantry School (1892), and the General Staff Academy (1898). Beginning in 1898 he held staff positions and taught. In March 1914 he became commander of a regiment. During World War I he was quartermaster general of the Third Army; in September 1914 he joined the staff of the Northwestern Front; from April 1915 on he was in the command of the supreme commander in chief; and from August 1915 to February 1916 he was chief of staff of the Northern Front with the rank of lieutenant general. During the February Revolution he was chief of the Pskov garrison and a member of the Pskov council. In August-September 1917 he was the head of the troops of the Northern Front. During the October Revolution, while chief of the Mogilev garrison, he went over to the side of Soviet power and on November 7 (20) was appointed chief of staff of the supreme commander in chief. From March 1918 on he was military leader of the Supreme Military Council and then was in the command of the All-Russian Main Staff. In June-July 1919 he was chief of the field staff of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic and was in the military-history commission to summarize the experience of the war. In March 1919 he participated in the creation of the Supreme Geodesic Administration of the Supreme Council on the National Economy, which he headed until October 1923. In 1925 the State Aerial Photography Bureau was created under his management. Beginning in 1928 he was in the command of the USSR Revolutionary Military Council. In 1944 the title of lieutenant general of the Soviet Army was conferred on him. He did a great amount of scientific and pedagogical work and was the author of many works on tactics. From 1939 to 1949, under the overall editorship of Bonch-Bruevich a nine-volume reference work, Geodesy, was published.