Grigore Kotovski
| Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky | |
|---|---|
Grigory Kotovsky
|
|
| Born |
June 24, 1881 Hînceşti, Russian Empire |
| Died | August 6, 1925 (aged 44) Chebanka Village, near Odessa, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance |
 Soviet Union (1918-1925) |
| Years of service | 1918–1925 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | Red Army |
| Battles/wars | Russian Civil War |
| Awards | Order of the Red Banner (3) |
Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (Russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Кото́вский, Romanian: Grigore Kotovski;June 24 [O.S. June 12] 1881 – August 6, 1925) was an adventurist, Soviet military and political figure, participant of the Russian Civil War. He made a career from a Russian gangster and bank robber, to eventually becoming a Red Army general and member of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union.
Kotovsky was born in the Bessarabia Governorate, the son of a mechanical engineer. (Officially, Kotovsky claimed to be born in 1887.) He also had five siblings. His father was Russian of Polish ethnicity and his mother was an ethnic Russian. By father, Kotovsky was hailed from an old aristocratic Polish family from Kamyanets-Podilsky. His grandfather for connections with participants of the Polish uprising was fired from the Russian service and eventually went bankrupt. His father was forced to move to Bessarabia and become a Russian burgess. Kotovksy suffered from a marked stuttering and was a left-handed. At two, he lost his mother and, at 16, his father. Kotovsky was raised by his godmother Sophia Challe, a daughter of Belgian engineer and a friend of Kotovsky's father and a godfather, the landowner Manuk-bey. Manuk-bey helped and completely supported Kotovsky enrollment and stay at the Cucuruzeni Agricultural College. He intended eventually to send his godson to Germany for the Higher Agricultural Courses, but his dreams were cut short by his death in 1902.
While studying in the college Kotovsky became involved with the local political club of Socialist Revolutionaries. After graduation in 1900 he worked as an assistant to estate manager but never for too long. Kotovsky was being fired for various acts including theft, fraternization and others. With the start of the Russo-Japanese War, he did not report to a military entrance processing station. In 1905, he was arrested for evasion of military service and sent to the 19th Kostroma Infantry Regiment headquartered in Zhytomyr.
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