- Abraham Of Smolensk
Abraham of Smolensk was a monk of Smolensk, his birthplace, where he became a monk of the Bogoroditzkaja monastery. He is historically regarded as a miracle worker. As a monk, he engaged in extensive preaching and biblical study. He is considered to be a notable figure in pre-Mongol Russia. He is described as being a man of stern and militant character, who kept the idea of the Last Judgement in the minds of himself and others.
- Yury Of Smolensk
Yury Svyatoslavich or Georgy Svyatoslavovich was the last sovereign ruler of Smolensk and Bryansk (1386-95, 1401-04) whose life was spent in vain attempts to fend off aggression by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- Anna Of Smolensk
Anna Svyatoslavna of Smolensk (died on July 31, 1418) was the second wife of Vytautas the Great of Lithuania. She helped Vytautas to escape from prison at the castle of Kreva in 1382, thus rescuing his life. According to the Bykhovets Chronicle, Anna was a sister of George of Smolensk, the last sovereign ruler of that city. A document from 1413 mentions a "Russian duke Basil" as Vytautas's brother-in-law. Indeed, one of Anna's (and George's) brothers was named Basil.
- Günther von Kluge
Günther “Hans” von Kluge, was a German military leader. He was born in Posen into a Prussian military family. Von Kluge, being familiar with the "Blitzkrieg" concept, became a field marshal. During World War I he was a staff officer and in 1916 was at the Battle of Verdun. By 1936 he was a lieutenant-general and in 1937 took command of the Sixth Army Group, which became the German Fourth Army that he led in Poland in 1939.
- Ivan Konev
Ivan Stepanovich Konev, was a Soviet military commander, who led Red Army forces on the Eastern Front during World War II, liberated much of Eastern Europe from occupation by the Axis Powers, and helped in the capture of Germany's capital, Berlin. Later, as the Commander of Warsaw Pact forces, Konev led the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 by Soviet armed divisions.
- Fabian von Schlabrendorff
Fabian von Schlabrendorff trained as a lawyer, later joining the German Army. As a lieutenant in the reserves, he was promoted to adjutant to Colonel Henning von Tresckow, a major leader in the resistance against Adolf Hitler. He joined the resistance and acted as a secret liaison between Tresckow in Russia and Ludwig Beck, Carl Goerdeler, Hans Oster, and Friedrich Olbricht in Berlin, taking part in various coup d'état plans and plots.
- Andrei Yeremenko
Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko (October 14, 1892 - November 19, 1970) Soviet general during World War II, Marshal of the Soviet Union, born in Markovka in the province of Kharkov in Ukraine to a peasant family. Drafted into the Imperial Army in 1913, served on the Southwest and Romanian Fronts during World War I. Joined the Red Army in 1918, where he served in the legendary “Budyonny Cavalry”. Attended the Leningrad Cavalry School and then the Frunze Military Academy, …
- Tautvilas
Tautvilas or Tautvila (died in 1263) was Duke of Polatsk and one of the sons of Dausprungas and nephews of King of Lithuania Mindaugas. Tautvilas together with his brother Edivydas and uncle Vykintas waged a civil war against Mindaugas. The war resulted in coronation of Mindaugas. In 1248, Mindaugas sent Tautvilas, Edivydas, and Vykintas to conquer Smolensk promising that they could keep what they would conquer.
- Dmitry Shemyaka
Dmitriy Yurievich Shemyaka was the second son of Yury of Zvenigorod by Anastasia of Smolensk and grandson of Dmitri Donskoi. Although his hereditary patrimony was the rich Northern town Galich-Mersky, Shemyaka is sometimes counted among the Grand Dukes of Moscow, which he held from 1446 to 1447. The causes of the Great Feudal War that rocked Muscovy in the second quarter of the 15th century, are still disputed.
- Mstislav The Bold
Mstislav Mstislavich the Bold was one of the most popular and active princes of Kievan Rus' in the decades preceding Mongol invasion of Rus. He was the maternal grandfather of Alexander Nevsky and King Leo of Galicia. He was the son of Mstislav the Brave of Smolensk by a princess of Ryazan. In 1193 and 1203, his bravery in the Kypchak wars brought him fame all over Kievan Rus'. At that time, he married a daughter of Kypchak Khan Kotian.
- Afanasy Nikitin
Afanasy Nikitin was a Russian traveler and writer and the first European to document his visit to India. He described his trip in a narrative known as the "Voyage Beyond the Three Seas". In 1955, the local authorities of Tver erected a bronze monument to Afanasy Nikitin on the shores of the Volga River. In 1466, Nikitin left his hometown of Tver on a commercial trip to India. He traveled down the Volga River, reached Derbent, …
- Adam Naruszewicz
Adam Naruszewicz was a Polish-Lithuanian nobleman, poet, historian, dramatist, translator, publicist, Jesuit and titular Bishop of Smolensk and Łuck. As a senator he participated in the Great Sejm.
- Edivydas
Edivydas (believed to have died ca. 1253) was one of the sons of Dausprungas and nephews of King of Lithuania Mindaugas. Edivydas together with his brother Tautvilas and uncle Vykintas waged a civil war against Mindaugas. Edivydas' brother and uncle were more active and Edivydas played just a secondary role in the conflict. The war resulted in coronation of Mindaugas.
- Yury Of Moscow
Yuriy Danilovich, also known as Georgiy Danilovich was Prince of Moscow (1303 - 1325) and Grand Prince of Vladimir (from 1317). He was one of the most disagreable personages of medieval Russian history, and yet to him the town of Moscow owned its first elevation. Yury was the oldest son of Daniel, the first prince of Moscow. His first important action was to defend Pereslavl-Zalessky against Grand Duke Andrew III.
- Nikolai Przhevalsky
Nikolai Mikhaylovich Przhevalsky, also spelled Przewalski and Prjevalsky, was a Russian geographer and explorer of Central and Eastern Asia. Although he never reached his final goal, Lhasa in Tibet, he discovered the only extant species of wild horse and added immensely to the store of European knowledge on Central Asia. Przhevalsky was born in Smolensk into a noble Belarusian family, and studied there and at the military academy in St.
- Pavel Nakhimov
Pavel Stepanovich Nakhimov (Russian: Павел Степанович Нахимов; June 23, 1802 - June 28, 1855) was one of the most famous admirals in Russian naval history, best remembered as the commander of naval and land forces during the Siege of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. Born in the Gorodok village of Vyazma district of Smolensk region, the son of a retired Russian Army major, …
- Nikolai Krylenko
Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko (May 2 1885, Bekhteevo (Бехтеево), Smolensk region, Russian Empire - July 29 1938, Moscow) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician.
- Vykintas
Vykintas (died ca. 1253) was Duke of Samogitia and rival to future King of Lithuania Mindaugas. In 1236 he probably led Samogitian forces in the Battle of the Sun against the Livonian Order. The order suffered a great defeat, was on the brink of collapse, and was forced to become a branch of the Teutonic Knights. In 1248 Mindaugas sent him together with Tautvilas and Edivydas to a military campaign in Smolensk. When they failed Mindaugas tried to capture their estates.
- Dina Korzun
Dina Korzun is a Russian actress. Korzun was born in Smolensk. She graduated from secondary school and Art school, studied ballet and modern dancing. After graduation from the prestigious Moscow Art Theatre School, she was asked to join the Chekhov Moscow Arts Theater Troupe, where she was a stage actress (1996 – 2000). Her major roles were Katerina in "Storm", She in "I Can't Imagine Tomorrow" and Elena in "Midsummer Night's Dream”.
- Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev
Dmitry Nikolaevich Medvedev (August 22, 1898 - December 14, 1954), colonel, one of the leaders of Soviet partisan movement in western Russia and Ukraine. Dmitry Medvedev was born in Bryansk in a steelworker's family. During the Russian Civil War joined the Red Army and in 1920 he joined the All-Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). Between 1920 and 1935 worked in Cheka, OGPU and NKVD in Soviet Ukraine. In 1936 Dmitry Medvedev was sent as NKVD intelligence agent abroad.
- Boris Vyacheslavich
Boris Vyacheslavich (c. 1053 - October 3, 1078) was a prince of Tmutarakan, son of Vyacheslav Yaroslavich (prince of Smolensk). Upon the death of Svyatoslav Yaroslavich in 1077, his brothers Vsevolod Yaroslavich and Izyaslav Yaroslavich started a bitter rivalry over the Kievan throne. Vsevolod left Chernigov and headed towards Izyaslav, who had set out on a military campaign against Kiev.
- Alexander Beliaev
Alexander Beliaev is a Russian author of science fiction whose body of work from the 1920s and 1930s made him a highly regarded Russian author in that field. His published works include "Professor Dowell's Head" (Голова профессора Доуэля), "Amphibian Man" (Человек-амфибия), "Ariel" (Ариэль), and "The Star KETs" (Звезда Кэц; KETs are the initials of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky), …
- Yefim Chaplits
Eufemiusz Czaplic (1768 - 1825) was a general of the Russian Empire. Eufemiusz Czaplic was born into an old Polish noble family Czaplic (Kierdeja Coat of Arms) and began military service in the Polish army, but entered the Russian service with a rank of second major of on October 26, 1783. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1792, he served in the staff of Prince Potemkin and took part in the battles of Ochakov, Bendery and Akkerman. He received the Order of St.
- Vladimir Iii Rurikovich
Vladimir III Rurikovich, Prince of Pereyaslavl (1206-1213), Smolensk (1213-1219) and Grand Prince of Kiev (1223-1235). Son of Rurik Rostislavich.
- Pyotr Kozlov
Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (born October 3, 1863 near Smolensk; died September 26, 1935 in Peterhof) was a Russian explorer who continued the studies of Nikolai Przhevalsky in Mongolia and Tibet. Although prepared by his parents for military career, Kozlov chose to join Przhevalsky's expedition and continued travelling in Asia with his successors, Pevtsov and Roborovsky. In 1895, he took general command of the expedition from ailing Roborovsky.
- Alexander Buturlin
Count Alexander Borisovich Buturlin (Russian, in full: граф Александр Борисович Бутурлин; 1694–1767) was a Russian general and courtier whose career was much furthered by his good looks and personal affection of Empress Elizabeth. Buturlin came from the most senior Ratshid family, whose members had been prominent as boyars and voevods since the 12th century. His father, who served as the Captain of the Leub Guard, …
- Fyodor Glinka
Fyodor Nikolaevich Glinka was a Russian poet and author. Glinka was the younger brother of Sergy Nikolaevich Glinka. He was born at Smolensk in 1788, and was specially educated for the army. In 1803 he obtained a commission as an officer, and two years later took part in the Austrian campaign. His tastes for literary pursuits, however, soon induced him, to leave the service, whereupon he withdrew to his estates in the government of Smolensk, …
- Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski
Wincenty Korwin Gosiewski (c.1620-1662) was a Polish politician and military commander, a notable member of the szlachta. He was born some time about 1620 as Wincenty Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski to Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski, a renowned Polish diplomat and the voivod of Smolensk. Little is known of his early life. By 1646 he received the title of Master of the Pantry for Lithuania. Between November 21 and December 24 of 1650 he also served as the Marshal of the Sejm.
- Heinz Hellmich
Heinz Hellmich was a German Generalleutnant during World War II. Awarded with a Knight’s Cross (on February 9, 1944). He joined military service in 1908. On March 22, 1910, while serving in 136th Infantry Regiment, he became Leutnant. After World War I he served in various units and kept various commanding positions. His service was followed with the promotions: Oberstleutnant (February 1, 1934), Oberst (January 1, 1936), …
- Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky
Prince Ivan Andreyevich Khovansky was a Russian boyar who led the Streltsy during the Moscow Uprising of 1682, alternatively known as the Khovanshchina. His life was dramatized by Modest Mussorgsky in the eponymous opera. Khovansky's monicker, Taratui, derives from the old Russian word for "chatterbox". Khovansky came from a senior Gediminid family, whose ancestors moved from Podolia to Moscow in 1408. He started his employment under Mikhail I as a stolnik.
- Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov
Count Alexander Matveyevich Dmitriev-Mamonov (Russian: Александр Матвеевич Дмитриев-Мамонов, 30 September 1758 — 11 October 1803, buried in Donskoy Monastery) was a lover of Catherine II of Russia from 1786 to 1789. A scion of the Rurikid family descending from the princes of Smolensk, Mamonov was a protégé of Prince Potemkin, whose aide-de-camp he was appointed in 1784.
- Peter Troubetzkoy
Pyotr Petrorvich Troubetzkoy, (1822-1892) was a Russian diplomat, administrator and general. Troubetzkoy was born in Tulcin in 1822. His first wife was Varvara Yourievna Troubetzkoy. In 1844 he was appointed governor of Smolensk, and Orel. In 1865 he went to Florence (Italy) on a diplomatic mission which included the supervision of the Russian church there. In Florence he met Ada Winans, an American lyric singer, and with her moved to Ghiffa on Lake Maggiore.
- Gleb W. Derujinsky
Gleb W. Derujinsky Russian-American sculptor. Born in Smolensk, Russia he was related to Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov on his father's side and Mikhail Vrubel the painter on his mother's. He completed his law degree at the University of Petrograd to meet his father's expectations, but devoted his entire life to sculpture. His artistic studies began in the years 1906 — 1911 at the Drawing School at the Society for Encouragement of Arts in St.Petersburg, …
- Andrey Nikolayevich Tychonoff
Andrey Nikolayevich Tychonoff was a Russian mathematician. Tychonoff originally published in German, whence the transliteration. The English style "Tikhonov" is also commonly seen. Born near Smolensk, he studied at the Moscow State University where he received Ph.D. in 1927 under direction of P.S. Alexandrov. In 1933 he was appointed as a professor at Moscow University. Tychonoff worked in a number of different fields in mathematics.
- Timofei Mikhailov
Mikhailov, Timofei Mikhailovich (on January 22 (on February 4) 1859, Smolensk province - April 3 1881, St.-Petersburg): Russian revolutionary, member of Narodnaya Volya.
- Pavel Kurochkin
Pavel Alekseyevich Kurochkin (November 6, 1900 - 1989) was a Soviet military leader. Pavel Kurochkin was born in the village of Gronevo, Vyazma district, Smolensk oblast.
- Nikolai Bogdanov-Belsky
Nikolai Petrovich Bogdanov-Belsky (1868-1945) was a Russian painter. Bogdanov-Belsky was born in near Smolensk in 1868. He studied art at the Semen Rachinski fine art school, icon-painting at the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in 1883, modern painting at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1884 to 1889 and at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg from 1894 to 1895. He worked and studied in private studios in Paris in late 1890s.
- Sergey Belavenets
Sergey Belavenets was a Russian chess master, chess theoretician, and chess journalist of Belarusian descent.
- Vsevolod The Big Nest III
Vsevolod III Yuryevich, or Vsevolod the Big Nest (1154-1212), was the Grand Prince of Vladimir during whose long reign (1177-1212) the city reached a zenith of its glory. Vsevolod was the tenth or eleventh son of Yury Dolgoruky, who founded the town Dmitrov to commemorate the site of his birth. Karamzin was the first to speculate that Vsevolod's mother Helene was a Greek princess, for after her husband's death she took Vsevolod with her to Constantinople.
- Jean-Bernard Gauthier de Murnan
Jean-Bernard Gauthier de Murnan (1748 - September 27, 1796) was a French officer for the Continental Army and a French General during the French Revolution. When he was young, he had to leave France to serve as a cavalry officer and then military engineer in the Russian army. When he returned to France, he was sent to support the newly born United States as a Lt. Colonel Engineer in the Continental Army.