Konstantin Nikolaevich Leselidze (, ka, კონსტანტინე ლესელიძე, Konstantine Leselidze) (15 October 1903 – 21 February 1944) was a

Colonel-General Colonel general is a 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 rank above full , but be ...

and

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

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

World War II 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 ...

. He was also the elder brother of Viktor Nikolaevich Leselidze

Early life and career

Leselidze was born on 15 October 1903 in

Ozurgeti Ozurgeti ( ka, ოზურგეთი ) is the capital of the western Georgia (country), 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 haze ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

(then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

) 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 ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

Leselidze joined the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

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 conflict by the Soviet Union without a formal declaration of war. On 17 September 1939, the Soviet Union invaded Second Polish Republic, Poland from the east, 16 days after Nazi Germany invaded Polan ...

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

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), 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 colon ...

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 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 military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

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 Colonel general is a military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically General officer#Old European system, general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, ...

. The stretching campaigns led him and his forces to 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 during World War II, between October 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive effort frustrated H ...

Battle of Caucasus The Battle of the Caucasus was a series of Axis and Soviet operations in the Caucasus as part of the Eastern Front of World War II. On 25 July 1942, German troops captured Rostov-on-Don, opening the Caucasus region of the southern Soviet U ...

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. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the peninsula i ...

, north-east of

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

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 The 47th Army () was a field army of the Red Army during World War II, active from 1941 to 1946. History The 47th Army was formed in late July 1941 in the Transcaucasian Military District as part of the Soviet Union's border defenses with Iran. O ...

; * 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 21 February 1944 at the age of 40. On 26 February 1944 he was buried in

at the Old Vera cemetery. His grave was later relocated to 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, sc ...

cemetery on 26 February 1976.

Honours and awards

Source: *

(1971,

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award, an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication, publishing of creative work after the author's death * Posthumous (album), ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1 ...

) * Two

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

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 Union, Soviet award established on ...

, 1st class *

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov ( ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established during World War II t ...

, 1st class *

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

* Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st class *

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

, twice *

Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" The Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" () was a state military commemorative medal of the Soviet Union established on January 24, 1938 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to denote the twentie ...

Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" The Medal "For the Defence of the Caucasus" () 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 1, 1944, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet o ...

* Order of the Red Banner of Labour of the Georgian SSR From 1944 to 1992, Gyachripsh (a town in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

) was renamed "Leselidze" after the general. In

(the capital of

), 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 ), historically Batum or Batoum, is the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), second-largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

and

Gelendzhik Gelendzhik (; Adyghe: Хъулъыжъий, Ḣułəžij) 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 sp ...

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 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