Yakov Melkumov

Yakov Arkadievich Melkumov (; ; – 3 July 1962) was a Soviet military commander of Armenian origin. He fought in the First World War and the Russian Civil War. He particularly distinguished himself during the Russian Civil War fighting against the Basmachi movement on the Turkestan Front.

His life Melkumov was born to a working-class Armenian family in the village of Kherkhan, near the town of Shusha. His father Arshak was a bricklayer by profession. In 1890, his family moved to Ashgabat, where Yakov learned the Turkmen language and learned to ride a horse. In 1906 he graduated from the 6th grade of the gymnasium in Ashgabat. In 1907, he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, sent to study at the Nikolaev Cavalry School, and released into the regular army with the rank of cavalry staff captain . During the First World War, he commanded a machine-gun unit in the 4th Cavalry Division of the 6th Army Corps.

Russian Civil War Melkumov joined the Bolshevik Party in 1918.

In June 1922, he commanded the 2nd Turkestan Cavalry Brigade during the offensive of the Red Army against the forces of Enver Pasha although there are other versions of Enver's death. For his military achievements during the Gissar campaign and for his defeat of Enver Pasha's army, Melkumov was awarded his second Order of the Red Banner. On June 20, 1930, Melkumov's cavalry brigade, in agreement with the Afghan government, invaded Afghanistan to strike at the Basmachi bases. In 1934, he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. From 1934 to 1937, he was the assistant commander of the Central Asian Military District.

Arrest and rehabilitation

In November 1937, during the Great Purge, Melkumov was arrested on charges of participation in a purported anti-Soviet nationalist organization, and in April 1940 was sentenced to be shot. After he appealed his sentence, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union commuted his sentence to fifteen years of imprisonment in a labor camp.

He was released from imprisonment in 1954 and rehabilitated the next year. His former rank of division general, and all rewards were restored. He lived the rest of his life in Moscow. In 1960 he published his memoirs, Turkestantsy, in which his struggle against the Basmachi rebels in Central Asia is thoroughly covered. He died on July 3, 1962, in Moscow and was buried in Novodevichy Cemetery.

Works

Honours and awards