Nikandr Yevlampievich Chibisov (; 17 November ( O.S. 5 November) 1892 – 20 September 1959) was a

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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

(1943).

Early life and World War I

Nikandr Yevlampievich Chibisov was born on 17 November 1892 in the stanitsa of Romanovskaya,

Don Host Oblast Don Host Oblast was a province (''oblast'') of the Russian Empire which consisted of the territory of the Don Cossacks, coinciding approximately with present-day Rostov Oblast in Russia. Its administrative center was Cherkassk, and later Nov ...

. His name was listed as Chibizov in Imperial army records and his social status as petty bourgeois from

Tsaritsynsky Uyezd Tsaritsynsky Uyezd () was one of the subdivisions of the Saratov Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the southern part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Tsaritsyn (present-day Volgograd). Demographics At the time ...

Saratov Governorate Saratov Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR. History On December 25, 1769, the Saratov province was established as part of the Astrakhan Governorate. On January 11, 17 ...

, but in his Red Army records the spelling of his name was changed to Chibisov and his social origin recorded as working class. He graduated from the four-year Don Theological Seminary in 1912 and in June of that year passed the exam for admission to the army as a

volunteer Volunteering is an elective and freely chosen act of an individual or group giving their time and labor, often for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency ...

of the 2nd category. He worked as manager of the agricultural storehouse in the Land Department of the stanitsa of Kletskaya. After

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, Chibisov was called up for military service in October 1914 and enrolled in the reserve battalion of the Life Guards Jager Regiment. Graduating from the regimental training detachment in March 1915, he was sent to the 1st Petergof School of ''

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 ...

''s (Warrant officers). After graduating from the school in July Chibisov was promoted to ''praporshchik'' and sent to the front. With the Life Guards Jager Regiment, Chibisov fought on the

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and Southwestern Fronts as a battalion junior officer and company commander. He was awarded the Cross of St. George three times and 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 ...

. After being wounded and concussed he continued to serve as commandant of a staging point in the 2nd Guards Staging Battalion (for troops in transit), then in the 3rd Consolidated Guards Reserve Battalion. In 1917 he was commandant of the assembly staging point of the Southwestern Front in

Lutsk Lutsk (, ; see #Names and etymology, below for other names) is a city on the Styr River in northwestern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Volyn Oblast and the administrative center of Lutsk Raion within the oblast. Lutsk has a populati ...

. At the beginning of 1918 he was captured by German troops in Lutsk, but escaped with a group of soldiers and arrived in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

. Chibisov 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 ...

in May 1918, serving as a platoon commander of a border post on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (; ; ) is the approximately stretch of land situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern Russia, to the north of the River Neva. Its northwestern boundary is a line from the Bay of Vyborg to the we ...

. With the 7th Petergof Battalion he fought with White Finns in the area of

Kemi Kemi (; ; ; ) is a cities of Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality of Finland. It is located approximately from the city of Tornio and the Finland–Sweden border, Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and t ...

. Chibisov was promoted to command a company of the 9th Rifle Regiment of the 7th Army in August 1918, and in November to commander of a battalion of the 166th Rifle Regiment. With these units he fought in battles against the Northwestern Army in the

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

sector. In late April 1919 he was appointed commander of the 86th Rifle Regiment, which he led in the fighting against White forces in the

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

sector and was wounded. In December he was appointed assistant chief of staff of the 30th Rifle Brigade of the 10th Rifle Division of the 16th Army, with which he fought in the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. After the end of the war, he took part in the suppression of the

Tambov Rebellion The Tambov Rebellion of 1920–1922 was one of the largest and best-organized peasant rebellions challenging the Bolshevik government during the Russian Civil War. The uprising took place in the territories of the modern Tambov Oblast and part ...

Interwar period

From November 1921 he was seconded to

Forces of Special Purpose The Forces of Special Purpose (ChON) () were a military internal security force established by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War. The Forces of Special Purpose (ChON) were created by a 17 April 1919 declaration of the Central Committee o ...

(ChON), serving as assistant chief of the 1st department, chief of the operational section and first assistant chief of staff of the ChON in Pskov. In November 1923 he became assistant chief of staff of the

1st Rifle Corps First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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 ...

, and in November 1924 chief of the operational section of the corps staff. Chibisov served as acting chief of staff of the

16th Rifle Division The 16th Rifle Division (; ; ) was a formation in the Red Army created during World War II. The division was formed twice, and was given the title 'Lithuanian' during its second formation. It was originally established at Tambov in May 1918. It ...

from February 1926 and in January 1927 reverted to assistant division chief of staff. He served as division chief of staff once again from August 1930. In 1935 he graduated from the

Frunze Military Academy 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 ...

, and in November 1936 was appointed chief of the 2nd department of the district staff. From 1937 he commanded the 85th Rifle Division of the

Ural Military District The Red Banner Ural Military DistrictHistory of the Ural Military District / Edited by Alexander Egorovsky, Ivan Tutarinov – 1 – Moscow: Military Publishing House of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union, 1970 – 352 Pages – 11,500 ...

, and in April 1938 the

4th Rifle Corps The 4th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Red Army, active from the 1920s. First Formation It was formed during the Russian Civil War as part of the Western Front of the Red Army in May and June 1922. The corps headquarters was stationed in Vitebsk ...

of the

Belorussian Military District The Byelorussian Military District (; alternatively Belarusian; ) was a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces. Originally formed just before World War I as the Minsk Military District out of the remnants of the Vilno Military District an ...

. In May 1938 Chibisov was promoted to ''

kombrig () is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command a brigade sized formation (X ...

'', and to ''

komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

'' in November 1939. In June 1938 he was appointed chief of staff of the

. During 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 ...

, he was chief of staff of the 7th Army of the

Northwestern Front The Northwestern Front (Russian: ''Северо-Западный фронт'') was a military formation of the Red Army during the Winter War and World War II. It was operational with the 7th and 13th Armies during the Winter War. It was re-c ...

. After the end of the Winter War Chibisov received a promotion to ''

komkor () is the syllabic abbreviation for corps commander (; ). It was a Military ranks of the Soviet Union, military rank in the Red Army and Red Army Air Force of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was als ...

'', receiving the rank of lieutenant general when the army introduced general officer ranks on 4 June. In July 1940 he was appointed deputy commander of the Leningrad Military District, and in January 1941 transferred to hold the same position in the

Odessa Military District The Odessa Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military administrative division of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This district consisted of Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldavia and five Oblasts of Ukraine, Ukrainian oblasts of Odesa ...

World War II

After

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

began, the Odessa Military District was reorganized into the Southern Front on 25 June, under the command of Army General

Ivan Tyulenev Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev (; 28 January 189215 August 1978) was a Soviet military commander, one of the first to be promoted to the rank of General of the Army in 1940. Biography Tyulenvev was born into a soldier's family in the Simbirsk Go ...

. Simultaneously a new headquarters for the district was created under the leadership of Chibisov. In the first days of the war he worked to bring the troops of the district to full combat readiness, carry out the process of mobilization, form new units for the front, and evacuate industry and state facilities deeper into the country. In late June the 9th Separate Army was formed from troops of the district. The Coastal Group of Forces of the Southern Front was formed from troops of the district on 6 July for the defense of

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

, and later renamed the

Separate Coastal Army The Separate Coastal Army (), also translated to English as Independent Coastal Army, was an army-level unit in the Red Army that fought in World War II. It was established on July 18, 1941, by the order of the Southern Front from the forces of ...

. Chibisov simultaneously commanded this army between 15 and 26 July. However, for retreating under the pressure of superior Axis troops he was relieved of command. In September 1941 he became deputy commander of the

Bryansk Front The Bryansk Front () was a Front (military formation), major formation of the Red Army during the World War II, Second World War. First Formation (August - November 1941) General Andrei Yeremenko was designated commander of the Front when it fi ...

, simultaneously commanding an operational group of the front from June 1942. Chibisov briefly commanded the front between 7 and 13 July. Chibisov was appointed commander of the new 38th Army, formed from the 4th Reserve Army and the operational group, on 3 August 1942. The army transferred to the

Voronezh Front The 1st Ukrainian Front (), previously the Voronezh Front (), was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army group. They took part in the capture of Berlin, the capital of Nazi Germany. Wartime ...

on 2 September, fighting in defensive and offensive battles near

Voronezh Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...

. In January and February 1943 he led the army in the

Voronezh–Kastornoye offensive The 1943 Battle of Voronezh or Voronezh–Kastornoye offensive operation (often credited in Russian as the liberation of Voronezh (освобождение Воронежа)) was a Soviet counter-offensive on the Eastern Front of World War I ...

and the Kharkov offensive operation. In March the units of the army fought in desperate defensive battles during the

Third Battle of Kharkov The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Nazi Germany's Army Group South against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February ...

, at the end of which the army consolidated its positions on the line northeast of

Sumy Sumy (, , ) is a city in northeastern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Sumy Oblast. The city is situated on the banks of the Psel (river), Psel River and has a population of making it the 23rd-largest in the country. The city ...

and defended there until August. Chibisov led the army in the

Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation The Belgorod–Kharkov strategic offensive operation, or simply Belgorod–Kharkov offensive operation, was a Soviet strategic summer offensive that aimed to liberate Belgorod and Kharkov, and destroy Nazi German forces of the 4th Panzer Army a ...

, covering the main forces of the

from attacks from the northwest, and for his skillful leadership of the army in the crossing of the Dnieper Chibisov was awarded the title

on 29 October. Chibisov was replaced in command of the army by

Kirill Moskalenko Kirill Semyonovich Moskalenko (; , romanized: ''Kyrylo Semenovych Moskalenko''; 11 May 1902 – 17 June 1985) was a Marshal of the Soviet Union. A member of the Soviet Army who fought in both the Russian Civil War and World War II, he later served ...

on 27 October. Despite this, he was promoted to colonel general on 7 November and appointed commander of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...

of the

Kalinin Front The Kalinin Front was a major formation of the Red Army active in the Eastern Front of 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 ...

on 21 November. Chibisov led the 3rd Shock Army in the

Gorodok Gorodok may refer to: * Gorodok, Russia, several inhabited localities in Russia *, part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, Moscow, Russia *Gorodok, the kremlin in Zvenigorod, Moscow Oblast, Russia * Gorodok offensive, Red Army World War II offensive ...

and Vitebsk offensives, until 5 April 1944. From early April 1944 he commanded the

1st Shock Army The 1st Shock Army () was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 1st Shock Army was created in late 1941 and fought in the northern areas of Russia and the Baltic States until the surrender of Germany i ...

, but on 22 May was relieved of command. Chibisov was appointed chief of the

in June.

Postwar

After the war ended, Chibisov continued to lead the academy. In March 1949 he became deputy chairman of the Central Committee of

DOSAAF DOSAAF (), full name ''Volunteer Society for the Assistance to the Army, Aviation, and Navy'' (), was a paramilitary sport organization in the Soviet Union that was concerned mainly with weapons, automobiles and aviation. The society was establ ...

, then assistant commander of the

in October. Chibisov retired in May 1954 and died in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

on 20 September 1959.

Decorations

Chibisov was awarded the following decorations: * Hero of the Soviet Union (29 October 1943) *

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 ...

(21 March 1940, 29 October 1943, 21 February 1945) *

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 ...

(22 February 1938, 3 November 1944, 24 June 1948) *

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 (8 February 1943) *

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 ...

(22 February 1938) *

Medal "For the Defence of Odessa" The Medal "For the Defence of Odessa" (; ) was a World War II campaign medal of the Soviet Union established on December 22, 1942 by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR''Polkovnik'' (13 December 1935) * ''

Kombrig () is an abbreviation of Commanding officer of the brigade (), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command a brigade sized formation (X ...

'' (17 February 1938) * ''

Komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

'' (4 November 1939) * ''

Komkor () is the syllabic abbreviation for corps commander (; ). It was a Military ranks of the Soviet Union, military rank in the Red Army and Red Army Air Force of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was als ...

'' (21 March 1940) * ''General-leytenant'' (4 June 1940) * '' General-polkovnik'' (7 November 1943)

In popular culture

General Fotii Kobrisov, the protagonist of the 1994 novel ''The General and His Army'' by Georgi Vladimov, was based on Chibisov. The book focused on 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 ...

(1941) and the

Battle of Kiev (1943) The Second Battle of Kiev was a part of a much wider Soviet offensive in Ukraine known as the Battle of the Dnieper involving three strategic operations by the Soviet Red Army and its Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak units and one operational cou ...

. The novel differed from the real-life biography of Chibisov in that he did not take part in the former.Rosalind Marsh
''Literature, History and Identity in Post-Soviet Russia, 1991-2006''
p. 207 The book was awarded the

Russian Booker Prize The Russian Booker Prize (, ''Russian Booker'') was a Russian literary award modeled after the Booker Prize. It was awarded from 1992 to 2017. It was inaugurated by English Chief Executive Sir Michael Harris Caine. It was awarded each year to ...

in 1995 and the

Sakharov Prize The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, commonly known as the Sakharov Prize, is an honorary award for individuals or groups who have dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and freedom of thought. Named after Russian scienti ...

in 2000.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *

External links

generals.dk page on Chibisov
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chibisov, Nikandr Yevlampyevich 1892 births 1959 deaths People from Rostov Oblast People from Don Host Oblast Heroes of the Soviet Union Soviet colonel generals Soviet military personnel of World War II Russian people of World War II Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class Commandants of the Frunze Military Academy Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Russian military personnel of World War I Frunze Military Academy alumni Imperial Russian Army officers Recipients of the Cross of St. George Soviet military personnel of the Winter War