Konstantin Nikolaevich Leselidze (russian: Константин Николаевич Леселидзе, ka, კონსტანტინე ლესელიძე, Konstantine Leselidze) (October 15, 1903 – February 21, 1944), was a

Colonel-General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a r ...

and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

who distinguished himself at the North, Transcaucasus and Ukrainian front during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was also the elder brother of Viktor Nikolaevich Leselidze

Early life and career

Leselidze was born on October 2 or 15, 1903 in

Ozurgeti Ozurgeti ( ka, ოზურგეთი ) is the capital of the western Georgian province of Guria. It was formerly known as Macharadze or Makharadze (named in honor of Filipp Makharadze). It is a regional center of tea and hazelnut processing. ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

(then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

) to an ordinary employee family. He was the elder brother of another decorated warhero, colonel Victor Leselidze who also died in the same year of the war. In May 1921 after graduating from high school in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

Leselidze joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

and was deployed primarily in Georgia. He participated in the suppression of local anti communism movements and uprisings before graduating from the Georgian Joint Military School in 1925 and in 1929 from the Tbilisi Artillery School for advanced officer courses. Leselidze was member of the All-Union Communist Party Bolsheviks already since 1925. During the period of 1922 to 1938 he commanded artillery units from batteries to regiments and the Georgian Joint Military School. In June 1938 he got appointed to chief of artillery, infantry division and was active during the

Soviet invasion of Poland The Soviet invasion of Poland was a military operation by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west. Subs ...

in 1939. From February 1941 to the outbreak of hostilities,

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

Leselidze was chief of artillery, rifle corps in the Belorussian Special Military District.

Eastern Front

In the first year of war, colonel Leselidze remained in command of the artillery in the 2nd Infantry Corps and the 50th Army on the Soviet Western Front. In June 1942 he became commander of the 3rd Infantry Corps, 46th Army of the Transcaucasus Front. Only two months later, Leselidze was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

and given command over the 46th Army, in which he remained until January 1943. From January to March the same year,

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

of the 47th Army and from March to February 1944, commander of the 18th Army in the Transcaucasus, the North Caucasus and the 1st Ukrainian Front as colonel general. The stretching campaigns led him and his forces to the Battle of Moscow,

Battle of Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus is a name given to a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus area on the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, Russia, opening the Caucasus region of ...

and the recapture of Ukraine, being additionally involved in the Krasnodar, Novorossiysk, Taman, Kerch-Eltigen and Zhitomir-Bordichevskoy defensive operations. The troops under his command fought hard and Leselidze's tactics managed to defend the Caucasus from Wehrmacht takeover, initiating the recapture of the entire area by Soviet forces. His forces did also claim a foothold on the

Kerch Peninsula The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula, Ukraine. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the pe ...

, north-east of

Kerch Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...

itself.

Commands Held

* 1941-1942: Commanding Officer II Artillery Corps; * 1942: Commanding Officer Artillery, 50th Army; * 1942: Commanding Officer III Mountain Rifle Corps; * 1942-1943 Commanding Officer of the 46th Army; * 1943: Commanding Officer of the 47th Army; * 1943-1944: Commanding Officer of the 18th Army;

Death

Tombstones of Konstantin and Nino Leselidze

From February 1944, Leselidze was treated at central military hospital of the People's Commissariat of Defence of the USSR where he was evacuated from the front for a serious illness after a complication of influenza. Konstantin Nikolaevich Leselidze died on February 21, 1944 at the age of 40. On February 26, 1944, he was buried in

at the Old Vera cemetery. His grave was later re located in the

Didube Pantheon The Didube Pantheon ( ka, დიდუბის მწერალთა და საზოგადო მოღვაწეთა პანთეონი) is a cemetery in Tbilisi, Georgia, where some of the most prominent writers, artists, s ...

cemetery on February 26, 1976.

Honours and awardshttp://podvignaroda.ru/ Open access electronic repository of documents "People's Feat in Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"

(1971,

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

) * Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

Order of Suvorov The Order of Suvorov () is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named in honor of Russian Generalissimo Prince Alexander Suvorov (1729–1800). History The Order of Suvorov was originally a Soviet award established on July 29, 19 ...

, 1st class *

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established ...

, 1st class *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of t ...

* Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st class * Order of the Red Star, twice *

Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" The Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (russian: Юбилейная медаль «XX лет Рабоче-Крестьянской Красной Армии») was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Un ...

Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" The Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" (russian: Медаль «За оборону Кавказа») was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union. Medal history The Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" was established on May ...

* Order of the Red Banner of Labour of the Georgian SSR From 1944 to 1992, Gyachripsh (a town in Abkhazia) was renamed "Leselidze" after the general. In

(the capital of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

), a street in the center of the city was named after General Leselidze and a statue of him also stands on this street. Streets were named after him in the cities of

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of t ...

, Sochi, Novorossiysk and

Gelendzhik Gelendzhik (russian: Геленджи́к) is a resort town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Gelendzhik Bay of the Black Sea, between Novorossiysk ( to the northwest) and Tuapse ( to the southeast). Greater Gelendzhik sprawls for alon ...

literature

* Советская военная энциклопедия / под ред. Н. В. Огаркова. — М.: Воениздат, 1979. — Т. 4. — 654 с. — (в 8-ми т). — 105 000 экз. * Великая Отечественная война 1941 — 1945. Энциклопедия / под ред. М. М. Козлова. — М.: Советская энциклопедия, 1985. — С. 408. — 500 000 экз. * Герои Советского Союза: Краткий биографический словарь / Пред. ред. коллегии И. Н. Шкадов. — М.: Воениздат, 1987. — Т. 1 /Абаев — Любичев/. — 911 с. — 100 000 экз. — ISBN отс., Рег. № в РКП 87-95382 * Коллектив авторов. Великая Отечественная. Командармы. Военный биографический словарь / Под общей ред. М. Г. Вожакина. — М.; Жуковский: Кучково поле, 2005. — С. 128—129. —

Sources

National archives of Georgia
Personal fund #1777 of Colonel-General K. Leselidze, inventory #1, inventory #2.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leselidze, Konstantin 1903 births 1944 deaths Burials at Didube Pantheon Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Generals from Georgia (country) Heroes of the Soviet Union People from Ozurgeti People from Kutais Governorate People of the Soviet invasion of Poland People of World War II from Georgia (country) Recipients of the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union), 1st class Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Soviet colonel generals Soviet Georgian generals Soviet military personnel of World War II