Nikandr Chibisov

Nikandr Yevlampievich Chibisov (; 17 November (O.S. 5 November) 1892 – 20 September 1959) was a Soviet Army colonel general and Hero of the Soviet Union.

Early life and World War I Nikandr Yevlampievich Chibisov was born on 17 November 1892 in the stanitsa of Romanovskaya, Don Host Oblast. His name was listed as Chibizov in Imperial army records and his social status as petty bourgeois from Tsaritsynsky Uyezd of Saratov Governorate, 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 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 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 Praporshchiks (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 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. 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. At the beginning of 1918 he was captured by German troops in Lutsk, but escaped with a group of soldiers and arrived in Petrograd. 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. Chibisov led the 3rd Shock Army in the Gorodok and Vitebsk offensives, until 5 April 1944. From early April 1944 he commanded the 1st Shock Army, but on 22 May was relieved of command. Chibisov was appointed chief of the Frunze Military Academy in June.

Hero of the Soviet Union (29 October 1943) Order of Lenin (21 March 1940, 29 October 1943, 21 February 1945) Order of the Red Banner (22 February 1938, 3 November 1944, 24 June 1948) Order of Suvorov, 1st class (8 February 1943) Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (22 February 1938) Medal "For the Defence of Odessa"

Dates of rank Chibisov received the following ranks after the Red Army introduced conventional military ranks in 1935:

Polkovnik (13 December 1935) Kombrig (17 February 1938) Komdiv (4 November 1939) Komkor (21 March 1940) General-leytenant (4 June 1940) The book was awarded the Russian Booker Prize in 1995 and the Sakharov Prize in 2000.