Aleksey Maresyev | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev |
| Born | (1916-05-20)May 20, 1916 |
| Died | May 18, 2001(2001-05-18) (aged 84) |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union |
| Branch |  Soviet Air Force |
| Years of service | 1937–1946 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | 63rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union |
Aleksey Petrovich Maresyev (Russian:Алексей Петрович Маресьев; 20 May 1916 – 18 May 2001) was a Soviet and Russian military pilot who became aSoviet fighter ace duringWorld War II despite becoming a double amputee.
Before joining the army in 1937 Maresyev worked as aturner and then participated in the construction ofKomsomolsk-on-Amur.
In 1941, he graduated from theBataysk Military School of Aviation. He began his flights as a fighter pilot in August 1941. He had shot down four German aircraft by March 1942.
On 5 April 1942 hisYakovlev Yak-1 was shot down nearStaraya Russa, after which he was almost captured. Despite being badly injured, he managed to return to the Soviet-controlled territory, braving blizzards and german patrol units. During his 18-day-long journey his injuries deteriorated so badly that both of his legs had to be amputated above the knee. Before the surgery he was lying on a stretcher with a sheet over his face and considered to be a hopeless case due to the extent of his injuries in addition to suffering fromgangrene andblood poisoning. One doctor offered to operate on him and thereby saved him, but told him he would not lose his legs. Upon waking up from anesthesia, he was angered to find that his legs had been amputated above the knee.[1] Desperate to return to his fighter pilot service, he subjected himself to nearly a year of exercise to master the control of hisprosthetic devices, and succeeded at that, returning to flying in June 1943.[2]
During adog fight in August 1943, he shot down three GermanFocke-Wulf Fw 190 fighters. In total, he completed over 80 combat sorties and shot down an estimated 7 German aircraft.[3] He was awarded the titleHero of the Soviet Union on 24 August 1943. In 1944, he joined theCommunist Party and in 1946 he retired from the military.
In 1952, Maresyev graduated from theHigher Party School. In 1956, he obtained a Ph.D. in history and started working in the Soviet War Veterans Committee. Eventually, he became a member of theSupreme Soviet.
He suffered a heart attack on 18 May 2001 and died 16 hours later, just an hour before the celebration of his 85th birthday.[4]
| External images | |
|---|---|
 Maresev before the war | |
| with prosthetic legs visible | |
| during physical therapy | |
| with his wife Galina and son Viktor in 1946 | |
| with Ivan Kozhedub |
His story served as a basis for the novel byBoris PolevoyThe Story of a Real Man and a subsequent film (1948) directed byAleksandr Stolper, in which his name was changed to Meresyev. The novel also inspiredSergei Prokofiev's last operaThe Story of a Real Man. In 2005 a documentary calledAlexey Maresyev. The Fate of a Real Man was produced byChannel Russia.
InOmon Ra (1992) byVictor Pelevin, a Soviet military academy routinely amputates the legs of its first-year cadets to turn them into "Real Men" like Maresyev.
The Pilot. A Battle for Survival is a 2021 RussianWWII film written and directed byRenat Davletyarov, based on the real story of Maresyev.
The asteroid2173 Maresjev is named in his honor.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
