The commander Stalin made change his name, who led the 5th Guards Army from Stalingrad to Prague
Nov 1942: Rokossovsky told him Stalin didn't like his surname Zhidov — it echoed a slur for Jews. Zhadov changed one letter and Stalin wrote back: 'Very good.'
Born to a poor peasant family, he joined the Red Army in 1919 and fought Wrangel, Makhno, and the Basmachi with the 1st Cavalry Army during the Civil War. In the autumn of 1942 at Stalingrad, commanding the 66th Army on the northern flank, he blunted German breakthroughs, earning his formation the Guards designation as the 5th Guards Army. He led that army through the decisive campaigns of the German-Soviet War: the Prokhorovka tank battle at Kursk, the liberation of Ukraine, the Vistula-Oder operation, and the Berlin and Prague offensives, meeting the US First Army at the Elbe in April 1945 and cutting Germany in two. Awarded Hero of the Soviet Union in 1945, he served postwar as First Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces, head of the Frunze Military Academy, and commander of the Central Group of Forces, rising to Army General in 1955.
Career Timeline
- 1919–22Joined Red Army; 46th Rifle Div, 1st Cavalry Army — fought Wrangel, Makhno, Basmachi; severely wounded
- 1934–40Graduated Frunze Military Academy; staff roles in cavalry, Cavalry Inspectorate; CO 21st Turkestan Mountain Cavalry Division
- 1941.6–8CO 4th Airborne Corps (Western Front) — Berezina & Sozh river defence, escaped Minsk encirclement
- 1941.8–1942.5Chief of Staff, 3rd Army (Central & Bryansk Fronts) — Battle of Moscow, Yelets offensive
- 1942.10–1943.4CO 66th Army (Don Front) — Stalingrad northern defence & counterattack; Nov 1942 changed surname Zhidov→Zhadov on Stalin's order
- 1943.4–1945.5CO 5th Guards Army — Kursk/Prokhorovka, liberation of Ukraine, Vistula-Oder, Berlin, Prague; met US 1st Army at Elbe, Apr 1945
- 1946–49Deputy C-in-C, Soviet Ground Forces for combat training
- 1950–54Head of the M.V. Frunze Military Academy
- 1954–55C-in-C, Central Group of Forces (Austria)
- 1955–64Promoted Army General (1955); First Deputy C-in-C, Soviet Ground Forces
- 1964–69First Deputy Chief Inspector, USSR Ministry of Defence
- 1969–77Inspector-Counsellor, Group of Inspector-Generals, MoD; died 1977 — buried at Novodevichy Cemetery