János Gálicz (1890–1939), better known as "General Gal", was a Hungarian and Soviet brigade and division commander during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

Biography

Born in 1890 in the town of Tótkomlós in Austria-Hungary (now Békés county in Hungary). As part of the Austro-Hungarian army, he participated in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During his service on Eastern Front he fell into Russian captivity. After the

October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...

he 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 took part in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

. He rained at the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...

in Moscow and was promoted to the rank colonel. In 1936 he was sent to Spain and fought in the International Brigades in the

under the assumed name of ''José Ivanovich Gal''. He planned and ordered an attack in the hills above the Jarama River which led to what was described by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

as the decimation of the Twelfth International Brigade. After his return to the Soviet Union he was arrested during the Great Purge and presumably shot sometime in 1939, in Moscow. 1890 births 1939 deaths People from Tótkomlós Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I Hungarian people of the Spanish Civil War Great Purge victims from Hungary International Brigades personnel Soviet people of Hungarian descent Soviet military personnel Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet people of the Spanish Civil War Hungarian communists Communist Party of the Soviet Union members {{hungary-mil-bio-stub