Konstantin Pavlovich Pyadyshev (; December 1890 – 15 June 1944) was a

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 ...

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 ...

who held corps command in the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

and senior command in

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 ...

Early life, World War I and Russian Civil War

Konstantin Pavlovich Pyadyshev was born in December 1890 in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, the son of a white-collar employee. He graduated from a

realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

and passed the examination for

praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

of the reserve in 1910. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

began, he was called up for active service. Pyadyshev served as a company commander, regimental adjutant, and senior adjutant for the Operations Section of the staff of an infantry division. He was wounded three times, rising to the rank of

staff captain Staff captain is the English translation of a number of military ranks: Historical use of the rank Czechoslovakia In the Czechoslovak Army, until 1953, staff captain (, ) was a senior captain rank, ranking between captain and major. Estonia T ...

. Pyadyshev joined the

in December 1918 during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

. He served as assistant chief of staff and chief of staff of the 1st Petrograd Special Purpose Rifle Brigade, commanding the 2nd (later 164th) Brigade of the 55th Rifle Division and the 61st Brigade of the 21st Rifle Division. For his performance commanding the 164th Brigade, Pyadyshev received the

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 ...

on 3 November 1920. The citation read:

Commander of the 164th Rifle Brigade of the 55th Rifle Division Comrade Konstantin Pavlovich Pyadyshev, during the attack on an enemy fortified position personally led units of the brigade under enemy rifle, machine gun and artillery fire. Rousing his comrades, he took the enemy fortified position with a daring charge, giving the opportunity for our cavalry to break through into the enemy rear and develop the general success. Always cool and decisive in battle, Comrade Pyadyshev precisely and accurately fulfilled all combat objectives entrusted to him, giving the opportunity for the 2nd Cossack Cavalry Corps to boldly advance on the enemy, not afraid of any incidents.

At the end of the war, Pyadyshev rose to command the 21st Rifle Division between October 1920 and April 1921.

Interwar period and Winter War

Pyadyshev was appointed commander of the 10th Rifle Division in June 1922, and graduated from the Higher Academic Courses at the

Military Academy of the Red Army The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), 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 (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

in 1924, returning to command the division. In May 1931 he transferred to the serve as chief of staff of the military training institutions of the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

. In May 1934 he became chief of staff of the Red Army Military Electrical Engineering Academy. In February 1936 he took command of the 90th Rifle Division, and in March 1937 rose to deputy chief of staff of the

. During the

, Pyadyshev served as deputy commander of the 7th Army and deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District. In February 1940 he became commander of the

34th Rifle Corps The 34th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet 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 esta ...

. After the end of the war, he commanded the 8th Army from June. In July he became deputy chief of the Red Army Combat Training Directorate, and returned to the post of deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District in May 1941.

Eastern Front

When Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, the Leningrad Military District was reorganized as the Northern Front, with Pyadyshev continuing as deputy commander. He was given command of the Luga Operational Group in July. Pyadyshev was arrested on 22 July. He was sentenced by the

Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union () was created in 1924 by the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union as a court for the higher military and political personnel of the Red Army and Fleet. In addition it was an immedia ...

to ten years of imprisonment in a Gulag camp, charged with conducting anti-Soviet agitation. He died in a camp on 15 June 1944, and was posthumously rehabilitated on 28 January 1958.

Awards

Pyadyshev was a recipient of the following awards: *

Order 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 ...

(1940) *

(1920, 1923, 1940)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pyadyshev, Konstantin 1890 births 1944 deaths Soviet lieutenant generals Military personnel from Saint Petersburg Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of the Winter War Soviet military personnel of World War II Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour People who died in the Gulag