Aleksandra Leontievna Boiko (; 20 May 1918 – 25 May 1996) was a tank commander in the

Soviet Army The Soviet Ground Forces () was the land warfare service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1946 to 1992. It was preceded by the Red Army. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist in December 1991, the Ground Forces remained under th ...

active in the Eastern Front of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Biography

Aleksandra Leontievna Morisheva was born on 20 May 1918, in

Belebey Belebey (; , ''Bäläbäy'') is a town in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, located on the bank of the Usen River, from Ufa. Population: History Belebey was established in 1715 and granted town status in 1781. Between 1865 and 1919 it ...

Bashkortostan Bashkortostan, officially the Republic of Bashkortostan, sometimes also called Bashkiria, is a republic of Russia between the Volga river and the Ural Mountains in Eastern Europe. The republic borders Perm Krai to the north, Sverdlovsk Oblast ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. She graduated from the

Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design (KNUTD) ( is a university in Kyiv, Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Rus ...

in 1938, and became employed as a chemist in a factory in

. Morisheva moved to

Magadan Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a Port of Magadan, port types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative centre of Magadan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the isthmus of the Staritsky Peninsula by the ...

, where she became an inspector in the Kolymsnab trust until February 1942. Morisheva married Ivan Fedorovich Boiko. Along with her husband, Ivan Boiko, she raised 50,000

rouble The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are s ...

s from their savings to pay for the construction of a tank for the

. As part of the effort, they appealed to be sent to the Eastern Front. A year later, she was appointed as a tank commander while holding the rank of

Junior Lieutenant Junior lieutenant is a junior officer rank in several countries, comparable to Sub-lieutenant. Germany In East Germany's National People's Army, the rank of () was introduced in 1956 and used until German reunification in 1990. Eastern Europe ...

, and her husband was her engineer within the tank. The couple had both graduated from the accelerated programme at the Chelyabinsk Tank School. They first entered battle during the Riga Offensive in 1944, and it was reported that they had destroyed five tanks and two guns in two weeks. In August that year, she was awarded the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

first class. She went to Moscow in September that year, where she attended an anti-fascist rally and appeared on the back cover of the magazine ''

Ogoniok ''Ogoniok'' ( rus, Огонёк, Ogonyok, t=Spark, p=ɐɡɐˈnʲɵk, a=Ru-огонёк.ogg; pre-reform orthography: Огонекъ) was one of the oldest weekly illustrated magazines in Russia. History and profile ''Ogoniok'' was first issue ...

''. Later, while fighting in the Baltics, both Boikos were injured and spent time in a hospital. They were released in time to celebrate

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. After she was demobilised, she returned to Magadan and ran a bakery before being elected to the City Council twice, in 1947 and 1953. She then moved to

Apsheronsk Apsheronsk () is a town and the administrative center of Apsheronsky District of Krasnodar Krai, Russia, located on the Pshekha River (in the Kuban's basin). Population: 39,488 (2020), Persian ''āb šurān'' (salty waters). This also gave its n ...

, but was made an honorary citizen of Magadan on 4 December 1991. She died on 25 May 1996.

Biography

See also

References

Further reading