Ivan Panfilov

Ivan Panfilov
A portrait of Major General Ivan Panfilov, by Vasili Yakovlev.
Born	(1893-01-01)1 January 1893 Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russian Empire
Died	18 November 1941(1941-11-18) (aged 48) Guseniovo, Volokolamsky District, Soviet Union
Buried at	Novodevichy Cemetery
Allegiance	Russian Empire (1915–1917)  Soviet Union (1918–1941)
Years of service	1915–1941
Rank	Major General
Commands held	316th Rifle Division
Battles/wars	World War I Russian Civil War Polish-Soviet War Basmachi Revolt World War II
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin Order of the Red Banner (3) Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"

Ivan Vasilyevich Panfilov (Russian: Иван Васильевич Панфилов; 1 January [O.S. 20 December 1892] 1893 – 18 November 1941) was a Soviet general and a posthumous Hero of the Soviet Union, known for his command of the 316th Rifle Division during the defense of Moscow at the Second World War.

Panfilov was born to a clerk's family in Petrovsk. After the death of his mother in 1904, the child was forced to quit school and started working in a local shop when he was twelve years old. His father died in 1912.

In 1915, during the First World War, Panfilov was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army and stationed in the 638th Olpinsk Infantry Regiment. Afterwards, he was transferred to the Southwestern Front, where he was promoted to sergeant. During 1917, following the February Revolution, Panfilov was elected by his fellow soldiers to be a member of the Regimental Soviet.

After the October Revolution and the beginning of the Russian Civil War, Panfilov volunteered into the nascent Red Army in 1918, where he was stationed as a platoon commander in the 25th Rifle Division under the command of Vasily Chapayev. In March 1919, the division was sent to the Urals to confront the Cossack White army led by Alexander Dutov, a follower of Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak. In the autumn, Panfilov's regiment was transferred to the southern city of Tsaritsyn, taking part in the battle against Anton Denikin's forces. During the campaign, Panfilov contacted typhus and had to be evacuated to the rear.