Aleksandr Ivanovich Blagonravov

Aleksandr Ivanovich Blagonravov (; – 28 May 1962) was a Soviet military engineer and designer who worked on the designs of armoured vehicles prior to, during, and after the Second World War.

Blagonravov began his military career by joining the Red Army and studied at the , afterwards embarking on a career working in teaching and the designs of armoured vehicles. His work included the epicyclic gearing mechanisms employed on the T-34 and IS-2 tank designs, the latter work winning him the Stalin Prize in 1943. He took up leadership roles in the People's Commissariat of Defence of the Soviet Union towards the end of the war, later serving in the Scientific-Tank Committee in the Ministry of Defence's Main Armoured Directorate, and as Head of the Tank Department of the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army.

Blagonravov wrote a number of academic works, was a Candidate of Technical Sciences, and a docent, while reaching the rank of Engineer Lieutenant General. He was also a corresponding member of the . He had received several awards, including the Order of the Red Star, the Order of Lenin, and the Medal "For Battle Merit", prior to his death in 1962. His son, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blagonravov, followed in his father's footsteps, serving as chief designer of Kurganmashzavod and playing an important role in the development of the BMP-2 and BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicles.

Early life and design work An IS-2 tank. Blagonravov's work on the design won him the Stalin Prize in 1943. Blagonravov was born on in the village of Khitrovo, then part of Tambov Governorate, in the Russian Empire. He joined the Communist Party in 1929, and served in the Red Army from 1930. After studying at the , he graduated in 1932 and began teaching and carrying out research. Credited alongside Blagonravov, listed at this period of his career as an engineer-podpolkovnik and teacher at the I. V. Stalin Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization, were Nikolai Dukhov, , , Leonid Sychev, German Mikhailovich, Aleksandr Sternin, Yevgeny Dedov, and Abram Lesokhin. He was a Candidate of Technical Sciences, and docent, reaching the rank of Engineer Lieutenant General. On her death in 1991, she was buried beside her husband in the Novodevichy Cemetery.