Ivan Nikitich Konev  Ivan Nikitich Konev (; 5 January 1899 – 19 November 1983) was a Soviet major general during World War II and a Hero of the Soviet Union. Konev led the 3rd Guards Airborne Division through most of the war and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union for his leadership of the division during the Jassy–Kishinev Offensive. Postwar, Konev continued to serve in the Soviet Army and became the deputy commander of multiple army corps. Ivan Nikitich Konev was born on 5 January 1899 in Sheshminskaya Krepost village in Samara Governorate to a peasant family. In 1913, he graduated from sixth grade and in 1915 he was working as a messenger and labourer in Baku. In May 1916, he joined the Imperial Russian Army and was a junior non-commissioned officer. He graduated from the Navartlukskoy Ensigns School. Konev was demobilized in December 1917. After the October Revolution, he became the secretary of the Sheshminskaya Parish Executive Committee. In January 1918, he volunteered for the Bulguminsky Uyezd Red Guards. In June 1918, he joined the Red Army. Konev served as the assistant chief of the district food requisition unit. In September, he became an assistant company commander in the 240th Rifle Regiment on the Eastern Front. He participated in the fighting against Alexander Kolchak's forces and became an assistant clerk on the regimental staff. Konev became an assistant director of the 68th Army Staging Unit of the 5th Army in July 1919. He served as an assistant commander, company commander, clerk and treasurer of the unit. In 1920, he was transferred to the Western Front and participated in the Polish–Soviet War as the commander of the 101st Staging Company. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in the same year. In June 1921, Konev was appointed assistant company commander in the Higher Military School of Siberia. He later became the quartermaster at the school. In January 1922, he became head of the quartermaster department and later the commander of the 24th Infantry School at Omsk. Konev transferred to the 29th Rifle Division in November and became that division's quartermaster. In January 1924, he became a platoon commander in the 85th Rifle Regiment. During the same year, he became reconnaissance company commander in the 87th Rifle Regiment.