Ivan Fedyuninsky

Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky
Born	July 30, 1900(1900-07-30) Tugulym, near Tyumen, Russia
Died	October 17, 1977(1977-10-17) (aged 77) Moscow
Allegiance	Soviet Union,
Service/branch	Soviet Army
Years of service	1919-1965
Rank	General of the Army
Commands held	42nd Army, 2nd Shock Army, 7th Guards Army
Battles/wars	Russian Civil War Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) Soviet-Japanese Border Wars (Battle of Khalkhin Gol) World War II
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of the Red Banner (5) Order of Suvorov (1st and 2nd Class) Order of Kutuzov (2) Order of the Red Star, Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces (3rd Class) Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic Order of Suekhbator (Mongolia) 2

Ivan Ivanovich Fedyuninsky (Russian: Иван Иванович Федюнинский) (July 30, 1900 - October 17, 1977) was a Soviet military leader and Hero of the Soviet Union (1939).

Fedyuninsky was born into a peasant family near Tugulym in the Urals. He finished the village school in 1913 and was apprenticed to a painter and decorator. He joined the Red Army in 1919. He fought on the Western Front in the Russian Civil war and was wounded twice. He studied at the Vladivostok Infantry School between 1923–24 and was appointed to an infantry regiment. He served in the Russian Far East between 1919 and 1940 fighting in the Sino-Soviet conflict (1929) and as a regimental commander in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol, where he won the Hero of the Soviet Union for his valour. He was promoted to divisional commander in 1940.

He was commanding 15th Rifle Corps in 5th Army on 22 June 1941, and after several other army commands, including 42nd Army in the Leningrad area, took over 2nd Shock Army just before the Battle of Narva (1944). From 1946 for a period he commanded 7th Guards Army.

After the war Fedyuninsky was deputy commander of the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (1951–54), commander the Transcaucasian (1954–57) and Turkestan (1957–65) Military Districts. He was awarded the rank of General of the Army in 1955 and was an inspector and advisor to the Soviet ministry of defence from 1965 until his death. He was also a deputy in the Supreme Soviet.

Ivan Fedyuninsky was awarded four Orders of Lenin, five Orders of the Red Banner, two Orders of Suvorov (1st and 2nd Class), two Orders of Kutuzov, Order of the Red Star, Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces (3rd Class), numerous medals, and a few foreign orders and medals.

Honours and awards

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the Russian Wikipedia.

Soviet

• Hero of the Soviet Union
• Four Orders of Lenin
• Order of the Red Banner, five times
• Order of Suvorov, 1st and 2nd classes
• Order of Kutuzov, 1st class, twice
• Order of the Red Star
• Order for Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR, 3rd class
• Medal for the Defence of Leningrad
• Distinguished Service in Guarding the State Border
• Medal for the Defence of Leningrad
• Medal "For defence of Kiev"
• Medal For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945
• Medal "For the capture of Königsberg"
• Medal "For the taking of Berlin"
• Medal "For development of virgin lands"
• 20 years of victory
• 30 years of victory
• Medal "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal «XX years, the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army"
• Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "50 Years of the USSR Armed Forces"
• Medal "In memory of the 250th Anniversary of Leningrad"

Foreign

Mongolia

• Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic
• Order of Sukhbaatar, twice
• Order "For Military Merit"
• Order of the Red Banner

Poland

• Order of Polonia Restituta
• Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari
• Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class
• Cross Olshansky Province

German Democratic Republic

• President of Gold Star
• Order of Merit for the Fatherland in gold (1st class)

Tuva People's Republic

• Order "Red Banner"

Czechoslovakia

• Medal "For the strengthening of friendship in Arms», 1st class

Other awards

He is an honorary citizen of the cities of: the Volkhov University, Kingisepp, Tallinn, Bryansk, Karachev, Gomel, Choibalsan (Mongolia), Flomberha (Poland).

Sources and references

• John Erickson (historian), The Road to Stalingrad (1975), & The Road to Berlin (1982).
• page in Russian from warheroes.ru