Sydir Kovpak

Sydir Kovpak
Grave of Sуdіr Kovpak in the Baikove Cemetery in Kiev
Born	June 7, 1887 Kharkov Governorate, Ukraine, Russian Empire
Died	December 11, 1967 (aged 80) Kiev, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Russian Empire  Soviet Union
Years of service	1914–1925 1941–1945
Rank	Major-General
Commands held	Putyvl partisans and allied partisan units 1st Ukrainian Partisan Division
Battles/wars	World War I Brusilov Offensive Kerensky Offensive Russian Civil War Buguruslansky Offensive Belebeyskaya Offensive Ufa Offensive Kiev Offensive World War II
Awards	Cross of St. George (3rd, 4th Class) Medal of St. George (3rd, 4th Class) Order of Lenin (4) Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 1st Class Order of Suvorov, 2nd Class Order of the Red Banner Medal "Partisan of the Patriotic War", 1st class
Other work	various top positions in government of Soviet Ukraine

World War I

Russian Civil War

Sydir Artemovych Kovpak (Ukrainian: Сидір Артемович Ковпак; Russian: Си́дор Арте́мьевич Ковпа́к, Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak), (June 7, 1887 – December 11, 1967) was a prominent Soviet partisan leader in Ukraine.

Kovpak was born to a poor peasant family in Kotelva village in Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire (in present-day Ukraine). For his military service in World War I, he was awarded two Crosses of St. George personally by the Emperor Nicholas II of Russia (an award for exceptial military heroism). After the Russian Revolution he joined the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and fought for the Red Army partisan units against the German forces, as well as against Denikin's White Army in a Vasily Chapayev's cavalry division. In the interwar period he was a head of the local government in the town of Putyvl, Sumy Oblast (province).