Kuzma Nikitovich Galitsky was a Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 army general who earned the title Hero of the Soviet Union

Hero of the Soviet Union

The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...

.

Biography

Kuzma Galitsky was born on October 24, 1897 in the city of Taganrog

Taganrog

Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...

 into a worker's family. He studied at the Taganrog Boys Gymnasium

Chekhov Gymnasium

The Chekhov Gymnasium in Taganrog on Ulitsa Oktyabrskaya 9 is the oldest gymnasium in the South of Russia. Playwright and short-story writer Anton Chekhov spent 11 years in the school, which was later named after him and transformed into a literary museum...

, which he graduated from in 1912, and worked at the Taganrog Train Station's depot. Galitsky joined the Bolshevik Party in 1918.

During the German-Soviet War, he commanded the 24th Rifle Division

24th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)

style="float: right; clear: right; background-color: transparent"| The 24th Samaro-Ulyanovsk Division was a rifle, then a motor-rifle division of the Red Army of the USSR...

 and the 67th Rifle Corps. Starting in September 1942, he commanded the 3rd Shock Army (Soviet Union)

3rd Shock Army (Soviet Union)

The 3rd Shock Army was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The 'Shock' armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and artillery assets than other combined arms armies...

, and from November 1943 to May 1945 he commanded of the 11th Guards Army

11th Guards Army

The 11th Guards Army was a Soviet field army active from 1943 to 1997, which traces its origins to the formation of the Soviet 16th Army in June-July 1940.-History:...

. General Galitsky's army finished the war at Kaliningrad, where he built the first memorial in the Soviet Union to soldiers who fell during the war.

He was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, serving from 1946 to 1962, concurrently serving as the commanding officer of the Northern Group of Forces

Northern Group of Forces

The Northern Group of Forces was the military formation of the Soviet Army stationed in Poland from the end of Second World War in 1945 until 1993 when they were withdrawn in the aftermath of the fall of Soviet Union...

 in 1955-1958 and the Transcaucasian Military District

Transcaucasian Military District

The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the USSR...

 in 1958-1961.

He died in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

 in 1973 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery

Novodevichy Cemetery

Novodevichy Cemetery is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia. It is next to the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg....

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Awards

• Hero of the Soviet Union
  Hero of the Soviet Union
  The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
  
   (with "Gold Star» № 5036)
• Four Orders of Lenin
• Order of the Red Banner
  Order of the Red Banner
  The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
  
  , four times
• Order of Suvorov
  Order of Suvorov
  The Order of Suvorov is a Soviet award, named after Aleksandr Suvorov , that was established on July 29, 1942 by a decision of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR. This decoration was created to award senior army personnel for exceptional leadership in combat operations...
  
  , 1st class
• Order of Kutuzov
  Order of Kutuzov
  The Order of Kutuzov is a Soviet and Russian military award, named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov ....
  
  , 1st class
• Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)
  Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (Soviet Union)
  The Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky was a Soviet award named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossack Hetmanate The award was first established on October 10, 1943, by the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of the USSR during World War II....
  
  , 1st class
• Order of the Red Star
  Order of the Red Star
  Established on 6 April 1930, the Order of the Red Star was an order of the Soviet Union, given to Red Army and Soviet Navy personnel for "exceptional service in the cause of the defense of the Soviet Union in both war and peace". It was established by Resolution of the Presidium of the CEC of the...
  
  
• Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
• Medal For the Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945
• 20 years of victory
• Medal "For the capture of Königsberg"
• Medal "20 years, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"
• Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
• Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
• Medal "50 Years of the USSR Armed Forces"

External links and references

• Kuzma Galitsky at War Heroes web site