Porfiry Grigorevich Chanchibadze ( ka, პორფილე ჩანჩიბაძე, russian: Порфи́рий Гео́ргиевич Чанчиба́дзе); 13 December 1901 - 14 March 1950) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

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 ra ...

and a

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 ...

Biography

Chanchibadze was born 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. Oz ...

, present-day

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 ...

. He participated in the

Russian Civil War , date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...

. At the outbreak of the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sout ...

, he was in command of the 120th Rifle Regiment in the Far East, which was transferred in July 1941 to the Western Front. In July 1941, he was appointed commander of the 107th Motor Rifle Division, which, as part of the 30th Army, fought in the

Battle of Smolensk (1941) The first Battle of Smolensk (german: Kesselschlacht bei Smolensk, ' Cauldron-battle at Smolensk'; ) was a battle during the second phase of Operation Barbarossa, the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in World War II. It was fought around the c ...

, defended itself in October 1941, and from December 1941 launched a counteroffensive during the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...

. For the successful completion of complex command tasks and the courage and heroism shown at the same time, the division was renamed the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle (12 January 1942). Subsequently, the division took part in the Rzhev–Vyazma and Rzhev-Sychevka offensive operations. On 23 October 1942 the 2nd Guards Motor Rifle Division was renamed the 49th Guards Rifle Division and assigned to be re-equipped. In November 1942, Chanchibadze was appointed commander of the

13th Guards Rifle Corps In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave ...

. The corps participated in the Battles of Stalingrad, Rostov, Mius, Donbass, Melitopol, and the

Crimean Offensive The Crimean offensive (8 April – 12 May 1944), known in German sources as the Battle of the Crimea, was a series of offensives by the Red Army directed at the German-held Crimea. The Red Army's 4th Ukrainian Front engaged the German 17th Army ...

. He was promoted to Major General in May 1942, and to Lieutenant General in September 1943. On 4 June 1944 Chanchibadze became commander of the

2nd Guards Army The 2nd Guards Army was a field army of the Soviet Union's Red Army that fought in World War II, most notably at Stalingrad. History The 2nd Guards Army was formed according to the order of the Staff of the Supreme High Command (Stavka) from Oc ...

which he led in the Siauliai, Memel and East Prussian offensive operations. He commanded the army during the Assault on Königsberg. By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 19 April 1945, Lieutenant General Chanchibadze was awarded the title of

for the skillful management of his Army in the defeat of Armee-Abteilung Samland. On 24 June 1945 Lieutenant General P.G. Chanchibadze took part in the Victory Parade in Moscow. After the disbandment of the 2nd Guards Army in September 1945, Colonel-General P.G. Chanchibadze was at the disposal of the Main Directorate of Personnel of the NKO of the USSR. In March 1946 he was commander of the 11th Rifle Corps. In 1948 he graduated from the

Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации) is the s ...

and became in June 1948 commander of the

in the Gorky Military District. Porfiry Georgievich Chanchibadze died on 14 March 1950. He was buried in Moscow in the 4th section of the

Novodevichy cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...

Sources

Generals.dk

Warhe.ruroes

1901 births 1950 deaths People of World War II from Georgia (country) Soviet colonel generals Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of World War II Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet Georgian generals {{Authority control