Mikhail Kalashnikov

Death After a prolonged illness, Kalashnikov was hospitalized on 17 November 2013, in an Udmurtian medical facility in Izhevsk, the capital of Udmurtia and where he lived. He died 23 December 2013, at age 94 from gastric hemorrhage. In January 2014, a letter that Kalashnikov wrote six months before his death to the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, was published by the Russian daily newspaper Izvestia. In the letter, he stated that he was suffering "spiritual pain" about whether he was responsible for the deaths caused by the weapons he created. Translated from the published letter he states, "I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I... a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?".

Family Kalashnikov's father, Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov (1883–1930), was a peasant. He completed two grades of parochial school and could read and write. In 1901, he married Aleksandra Frolovna Kaverina (1884–1957), who was illiterate throughout her life. They had 19 children, but only eight survived to adult age; Kalashnikov was born 17th, and was close to death at age six.

In 1930, the government labeled Timofey Aleksandrovich a kulak, confiscated his property, and deported him to Siberia, along with most of the family. The eldest three siblings, daughters Agasha (b. 1905) and Anna and son Victor, were already married by 1930, and remained in Kuriya. After her husband's death in 1930, Aleksandra Frolovna married Efrem Kosach, a widower who had three children of his own. She was an engineer and did much technical drawing work for her husband. They had four children: daughters Nelli (b. 1942), Elena (b. 1948) and Natalya (1953–1983), and a son Victor (1942–2018).

Weapon designs

During his career, Kalashnikov designed about 150 models of small weapons. Recipient of the Order of St. Andrew In 1998, he was awarded an Order of Saint Andrew the Protoclete On his 90th birthday on 10 November 2009, Kalashnikov was named a "Hero of the Russian Federation" and presented with a medal by President Dmitry Medvedev who lauded him for creating "the brand every Russian is proud of" On 19 September 2017 a monument of Kalashnikov was unveiled in Garden Ring, central Moscow. An activist who sought to disrupt the ceremony by displaying a sign reading "a creator of weapons is a creator of death" was subsequently arrested.

Russian Federation Decorations Hero of the Russian Federation (2009) Order of St. Andrew (2008) Order "For Merit to the Fatherland", 2nd class (1994) Order of Military Merit (2004)

Awards State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of design (1997) Award of the President of the Russian Federation in the field of education (2003)

Honorary diplomas Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (1997, 1999)

Medals Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Medal "Symbol of Science" (2007) Gold Medal of Zhukov Medal "For outstanding contribution to the development of the collection business in Russia"

Acknowledgements Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (1997, 1999, 2002, 2007)

Soviet Honors Hero of Socialist Labour (1958, 1976) Order of Lenin (1958, 1969, 1976) Order of the October Revolution (1974) Order of the Red Star (1949) Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class (1985) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1957) Order of Friendship of Peoples (1982)

Medals Medal "Hammer and Sickle" (1958,1976) Medal "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945" Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945" Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR" Medal "Veteran of Labor" on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Jubilee Medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy" Jubilee Medal "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Jubilee Medal "70 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"

Awards Stalin Prize (1949) Lenin Prize (1964)

Foreign decorations Order of Honor (1999) Order of Friendship, First Class (2003)

Other honors the home of Mikhail Kalashnikov in the village he set Courier lifetime bronze bust (1980) the name of the designer named projected prospect in Izhevsk (1994) "Honorary Citizen of the Altai Territory" (1997) Ministry of Economy of Russia award – The sign "of small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov" (1997) Union of scientific and engineering organizations and the Government of Udmurtia established an award named after Mikhail Kalashnikov (1999) Diamond company "Alrosa" extracted 29 December 1995 gem diamonds weighing 50.74 carats given the name "designer Mikhail Kalashnikov" (14.5 x 15, 0h15, 5 mm, quality Stones Black) (1999) Mikhail Kalashnikov Cadet School in Votkinsk (2002) Award in his name at the School of Weapon Skills of Izhevsk (2002) Izhevsk State Cultural Institution "Museum of Mikhail Kalashnikov" "Honorary Engineer of Kazakhstan" (Kazakhstan; 2004) Gift from President Hugo Chávez, the highest award of the Republic – a copy of the famous sword of Simon Bolivar, which is a relic of Venezuela and the copy is equal to the highest award of the country (2009) The name of Mikhail Kalashnikov was given to the military department of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg (2009) Izhevsk State Technical University was awarded the name of Mikhail Kalashnikov (2012) German knife company Boker has dedicated a series to him (2013) The companies that make Kalashnikov rifles, Izhmash and Izhevsk Mechanical Plant were merged and formally renamed Kalashnikov Concern. (2013)