Damdin Sükhbaatar

Damdin Sükhbaatar Дамдины Сүхбаатар
Sükhbaatar in around 1920-1922
Born	February 2, 1893 Khuree, Qing Empire (now Ulaanbataar, Mongolia)
Died	20 February 1923(1923-02-20) (aged 30) Mongolia
Occupation	Military leader, independence movement
Spouse(s)	Yanjmaa Sukhbaatar

Damdinii Sükhbaatar (Mongolian: Дамдины Сүхбаатар; February 2, 1893 – February 20, 1923) was a founding member of the Mongolian People's Party and leader of the Mongolian partisan army that liberated Khüree during the Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1921. Enshrined as the "Father of Mongolia's Revolution", he is remembered as one of the most important figures in Mongolia's struggle for independence.

Sükhbaatar (literally meaning "Axe hero" in the Mongolian language) was born in present-day Ulaanbaatar, the Chinese trading settlement some kilometers east of Ikh Khüree (later Niislel Khüree, now Ulaanbaatar), as the third of four children. His parents had deserted their home banner in Setsen Khan aimag, and his father lived from odd jobs and as a day laborer. When Sükhbaatar was six, the family moved close to the Russian consulate. It was from playing with the Russian children that he learnt to speak some Russian. At the age of 14, Sükhbaatar had the opportunity to get an education, from Zaisan Jamyan. From the age of 16 onwards, he worked as a proxy rider (at that time, people who were obliged to render certain services to the authorities often employed other people to replace them) for several years. After Mongolia's first declaration of independence in 1911, Sükhbaatar was drafted into the new nation's army.

In 1912, Russian advisers set up a military school at Khujirbulan, and Sükhbaatar was one of the soldiers transferred there. His talent for military tactics and his skills at riding and shooting earned him the respect of his comrades, and after the training he became a platoon leader of the machine gun company at Khujirbulan. In 1913, he set up his own household with his wife Yanjmaa. They had had their first son in 1911, but Yanjmaa's parents objected to the relationship on the grounds that Sükhbaatar was too poor.