Zhukov, Georgi Konstantinovich (1896-1974)

Marshal of the USSR in World War II and minister of defence 1955-57. As chief of staff from 1941, he defended Moscow in 1941, counter-attacked at Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in 1942, organized the relief of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) in 1943, and led the offensive from the Ukraine March in 1944 which ended in the fall of Berlin.

Zhukov joined the Bolsheviks and the Red Army 1918 and led a cavalry regiment in the Civil War 1918-20. His army defeated the Japanese forces in Mongolia in 1939. At the end of World War II, he headed the Allied delegation that received the German surrender, and subsequently commanded the Soviet occupation forces in Germany. Under the Khrushchev regime he was denounced in 1957 for obstructing party work and encouraging a Zhukov cult, but was restored in 1965.