Buried at Novodevichy Cemetery Name Semyon Kurkotkin Battles/wars World War II | Years of service 1937–1990 Allegiance Soviet Union Battles and wars World War II | |
Born February 13, 1917
Zaprudnaya near Ramenskoye, Moscow Oblast, Russia ( 1917-02-13 ) Awards Order of Lenin (4)
Order of the Red Banner (3)
Order of the Patriotic War (2)
Order of Kutuzov
Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky
Order of the Red Star
Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR Died September 16, 1990, Moscow, Russia Place of burial Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow, Russia Rank Marshal of the Soviet Union | ||
Semyon Konstantinovich Kurkotkin (Russian: Семё́н Константи́нович Курко́ткин; February 13, 1917 – September 16, 1990) was appointed Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1983.
He commanded the Transcaucasus Military District in 1968–1971 and the Soviet forces stationed in East Germany since 1971. Kurkotkin was appointed Assistant Minister of Defense in 1972.
Kurkotkin was born near Moscow and attended a technical college in the capital before joining the Red Army in 1937. He completed the Oryol tank school in 1939 and a political school in 1941.
During World War II Kurkotkin fought in the armoured corps rising to become a brigade commander. Kurkotkin fought with the Voronezh Front and later the 1st Ukrainian Front.
After the war Lieutenant Colonel Kurkotkin attended the Malinovsky Armoured Forces Academy and became a tank division commander in 1951. He completed the General Staff Academy in 1958 and was promoted to General.
He commanded the Transcaucasus Military District in 1968–1971 and the Group of Soviet forces, stationed in East Germany (1971/72). Kurkotkin was appointed Assistant Minister of Defense in 1972 in charge of rear echelon areas. In 1988 he became one of the Inspector Generals of the Soviet Army.