Editing Mikhail Kalashnikov

{{Short description|Russian firearms designer (1919–2013)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Mikhail Kalashnikov
| native_name         = {{nobold|Михаил Калашников}}
| native_name_lang    = ru
| image               = Kalashnikov Mikhail (1).jpg
| caption             = 
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1919|11|10|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Kurya, Kuryinsky District, Altai Krai|Kurya]], {{Interlanguage link|Altai Governorate|ru|Алтайская губерния}}, [[Russian SFSR]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2013|12|23|1919|11|10|df=y}}
| death_place         = [[Izhevsk]], Udmurtia, Russia
| known_for           = Designer of the [[AK-47]], [[AKM]], [[AK-74]], [[RPK]], and [[PK machine gun|PK]]
| occupation          = [[Small arms]] designer
| spouse              = {{Marriage|Ekaterina Moiseyeva|1940|1977|end=d}}
| children            = 4, including [[Victor Kalashnikov|Victor]]
| party               = [[United Russia]]<br>[[CPRF]] (until 2001)<br>[[CPSU]] (until 1991)
| awards              = {{Unbulleted list
 | [[USSR State Prize]] (1959)<ref name=bse/>
 | {{nowrap|[[Hero of Socialist Labour]] (1964)<ref name=bse/>}}
 | [[State Stalin Prize|Stalin Prize]] (1978)<ref name=kpss/><ref name=r3/>
 | [[Lenin Prize]] (2)<ref name=bse/>
 | [[Hero of the Russian Federation]]
 | [[Order of St. Andrew]]
 | [[Order For Merit to the Fatherland]] II cl.
 }}
| office              = Deputy of the [[Supreme Soviet]]
| term_start          = 1950
| term_end            = 1958
| termend1            = 1989
| termstart1          = 1966
| allegiance          = Soviet Union
 | branch             = [[Red Army]]
 | serviceyears       = 1938&nbsp;– 1941
 | rank               = [[Lieutenant general]]
 | battles            = {{Tree list}}
* [[World War&nbsp;II]]
** [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]]
*** [[Battle of Brody (1941)|Battle of Brody]]
*** [[Battle of Bryansk (1941)|Battle of Bryansk]]
{{Tree list/end}}
}}

'''Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov'''{{Family name footnote|Timofeyevich|[[Kalashnikov (surname){{!}}Kalashnikov]]|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{efn|{{IPAc-en|UK|k|ə|ˈ|l|æ|ʃ|n|ɪ|k|ɒ|f}} {{respell|kə|LASH|nik|off}}, {{IPAc-en|US|-|ˈ|l|ɑː|ʃ|-}} {{respell|-|LAHSH|-}};<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref> {{lang-rus|Михаил Тимофеевич Калашников|p=mʲɪxɐˈil tʲɪmɐˈfʲejɪvʲɪtɕ kɐˈlaʂnʲɪkəf}}}} (10{{nbsp}}November 1919{{spd}}23{{nbsp}}December 2013) was a Soviet and Russian [[lieutenant general]], inventor, [[Military engineering|military engineer]], writer, and [[small arms]] designer. He is most famous for developing the [[AK-47]] [[assault rifle]] and its improvements, the [[AKM]] and [[AK-74]], as well as the [[RPK]] [[light machine gun]] and [[PK machine gun]].<ref name=bse/>

Kalashnikov was, according to himself, a self-taught tinkerer who combined innate mechanical skills with the study of weaponry to design arms that achieved battlefield ubiquity.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news | url =https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/24/world/europe/mikhail-kalashnikov-creator-of-soviet-era-ak-47-weapon-is-dead-at-age-94.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB&_r=0| title = Mikhail Kalashnikov, Creator of AK-47, Dies at 94|work =[[The New York Times]]|author= Chivers, C. J. |date=23 December 2013| access-date = 25 December 2013}}</ref> Even though Kalashnikov felt sorrow at the weapons' uncontrolled distribution, he took pride in his inventions and in their reputation for reliability, emphasizing that his rifle is "a weapon of defense" and "not a weapon for offense".<ref name="NYT"/>

==Early life==
[[File:Kalashnikov Mikhail (5).jpg|thumb|left|Kalashnikov, {{circa|1944}}]]
Kalashnikov was born in the village of [[Kurya, Kuryinsky District, Altai Krai|Kurya]],<ref name=bse/> in present-day [[Altai Krai]], [[Russia]], as the seventeenth child of the 19 children<ref name=wr>{{cite web|url=http://www.warheroes.ru/hero/hero.asp?Hero_id=9957|title=Калашников Михаил Тимофеевич|website=www.warheroes.ru|access-date=19 September 2017}}</ref> of Aleksandra Frolovna Kalashnikova (née Kaverina) and Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov, who were peasants.<ref name=wr/> In his youth, Mikhail suffered from various illnesses and was on the verge of death at age six.<ref name="r3" /> He was attracted to all kinds of machinery,<ref name="r1" /> but also wrote poetry, dreaming of becoming a poet.<ref name="KalashnikovSMHpoet" /> He later went on to write six books and continued to write poetry all of his life.<ref name="r2" /><ref name="BBCpoet" /> In 1930, his father and most of his family had their properties confiscated and were [[Dekulakization|deported]] as [[kulak]]s to the village of Nizhnyaya Mokhovaya, [[Tomsk Oblast]].<ref name="r1" /><ref name="r2" /> After deportation, his family had to combine farming with hunting, and thus Mikhail frequently used his father's rifle in his teens. Kalashnikov continued hunting into his 90s.<ref name=r3/>

After completing seventh grade, Mikhail, with his stepfather's permission, left his family and returned to Kurya, hiking for nearly 1,000&nbsp;km. In Kurya, he found a job in mechanics at a tractor station. A party organizer embedded within the factory noticed the man's dexterity and issued him a directive (''napravlenie'') to work at a nearby weapons design bureau, where he was employed as a tester of fitted stocks in rifles. In 1938, he was conscripted into the [[Red Army]]. Because of his engineering skills he was assigned as a tank mechanic, and later became a tank commander. While training, he made his first inventions, which concerned not only tanks, but also small weapons, and was personally awarded a wrist watch by [[Georgy Zhukov]].<ref name=r3/> Kalashnikov served on the [[T-34]]s of the 24th Tank Regiment, {{ill|12th Tank Division|ru|12-я танковая дивизия (СССР)}} stationed in [[Stryi]]<ref name=r3/> before the regiment retreated after the [[Battle of Brody (1941)|Battle of Brody]] in June 1941. He was wounded in combat in the [[Battle of Bryansk (1941)|Battle of Bryansk]] in October 1941<ref name=r3/> and hospitalised until April 1942.<ref name=kpss/> In the last few months of being in hospital, he overheard some fellow soldiers bemoaning their current rifles, which were plagued with reliability issues, such as jamming. As he continued to overhear the complaints that the Soviet soldiers had, as soon as he was discharged, he went to work on what would become the famous [[AK-47]] assault rifle.<ref name=r4/>

[[File:AK-SMG-1942.jpg|thumb|left|The SMG predecessor of the Kalashnikov rifle]]
Seeing the drawbacks of the standard infantry weapons at the time, he decided to construct a new rifle for the Soviet military. During this time Kalashnikov began designing a [[submachine gun]].<ref name=r5/> Although his first submachine gun design was not accepted into service, his talent as a designer was noticed.<ref name=r3/> From 1942 onwards, Kalashnikov was assigned to the Central Scientific-developmental Firing Range for Rifle Firearms of the Chief Artillery Directorate of the [[Red Army]].<ref name=r6/>

[[File:AK-47 type II noBG.png|thumb|350px|right|A Type 2 AK-47, the first machined receiver variation]]
In 1944, he designed a gas-operated [[carbine]] for the new [[7.62×39mm]] [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridge]]. This weapon, influenced by the [[M1 Garand|Garand]] rifle design, lost out to the new [[Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov|Simonov]] carbine which would eventually be adopted as the [[SKS]]; but it became a basis for his entry in an assault rifle competition in 1946.<ref name=Bolotin/> His winning entry, with the designer recorded by the alias "Mikhtim" (so named by taking the first letters of his name and patronymic, '''Mikh'''ail '''Tim'''ofeyevich) became the prototype for the development of a family of prototype rifles.<ref name=k1/> 

This process culminated in 1947, when he designed the [[AK-47]] (standing for ''Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947''). In 1949, the AK became the standard issue [[assault rifle]] of the [[Soviet Army]] and went on to become Kalashnikov's most famous invention.

While developing his first assault rifles, Kalashnikov competed with two much more experienced weapon designers, [[Vasily Degtyaryov]] and [[Georgy Shpagin]], who both accepted the superiority of the AK-47 design. Kalashnikov named [[Alexandr Zaitsev (engineer)|Alexandr Zaitsev]] and [[Vladimir Deikin]] as his major collaborators during those years.<ref name=r3/>

==Later career==
From 1949, Mikhail Kalashnikov lived and worked in [[Izhevsk]], [[Udmurtia]]. He held a degree of [[Doctor of Sciences|Doctor of Technical Sciences]] (1971)<ref name=bse/><ref name=kpss/> and was a member of 16 academies.<ref name=academy/>

Over the course of his career, he evolved the basic design into a weapons family. The [[AKM]] ({{langx|ru|link=Yes|Автомат Кала́шникова Модернизированный |lit=Kalashnikov modernized assault rifle}}), first brought into service in 1959, was lighter and cheaper to manufacture, owing to the use of a stamped steel receiver (in place of the AK-47's milled steel receiver) and contained detail improvements such as a re-shaped stock and muzzle compensator. From the AKM, he developed a [[squad automatic weapon]] variant, known as the [[RPK]] ({{langx|ru|link=no|Ручной пулемет Кала́шникова |lit=Kalashnikov light machine gun}}).
[[File:Stoner meets Kalashnikov.jpg|thumb|Kalashnikov (right) and [[Eugene Stoner]] (left) hold the rifles they designed, taken in May 1990.]]
He also developed the general-purpose [[PK machine gun]] ({{langx|ru|link=no|Пулемет Кала́шникова |lit=Kalashnikov machine gun}}), which used the more powerful [[7.62×54mmR]] cartridge of the [[Mosin–Nagant]] rifle. It is cartridge belt-fed, not magazine-fed, as it is intended to provide heavy sustained fire from a tripod mount, or be used as a light, bipod-mounted weapon. The common characteristics of all these weapons are their simple design, ruggedness and ease of maintenance in all operating conditions.

Approximately 100 million AK-47 assault rifles had been produced by 2009,<ref name=BBCpoet/> and about half of them are counterfeit, manufactured at a rate of about a million per year.<ref name=r5/><ref name=r11/> [[Kalashnikov Concern|Izhmash]], the official manufacturer of AK-47 in Russia, did not patent the weapon until 1997, and in 2006 accounted for only 10% of the world's production.<ref name=KalashnikovSMHpoet/>

Kalashnikov stated that his motivation was always to serve his country, not to earn money.<ref name=r2/> 

Kalashnikov's grandson, Igor, ran a German company called Marken Marketing International.<ref name="r9" /> The company revamps trademarks and produces merchandise carrying the Kalashnikov name, such as [[vodka]],<ref name="BBCpoet" /> umbrellas and knives.<ref name="r7" /><ref name="r8" /> One of the items is a knife named for the [[AK-74]].<ref name="r9" />

During a visit to the United States in the early 2000s, Kalashnikov was invited to tour a Virginia holding site for the forthcoming American Wartime Museum. Kalashnikov, a former tank commander, became visibly moved at the sight of his old tank in action, painted with his name in [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]].<ref name="SKK">{{cite web |url=http://www.susankatzkeating.com/search/label/Kalashnikov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924112021/http://www.susankatzkeating.com/search/label/Kalashnikov |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2015 |last=Keating |first=Susan Katz |title=Mikhail Kalashnikov, Dead at 94, Once Visited the Tank Farm in Virginia |date=23 December 2013 |access-date=24 December 2013 |publisher=Susan Katz Keating blog}}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

==Death==
After a prolonged illness, Kalashnikov was hospitalized on 17 November 2013, in an Udmurtian medical facility in [[Izhevsk]], the capital of [[Udmurtia]] and where he lived. He died 23 December 2013, at age 94 from [[Peptic ulcer disease|gastric hemorrhage]].<ref name="rian">{{cite news |url=http://ria.ru/society/20131223/985995865.html |script-title=ru:Скончался легендарный конструктор стрелкового оружия Михаил Калашников |agency=[[RIA Novosti]] |language=ru |access-date=23 December 2013|date=23 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="WSJ">{{cite news |last=Alpert |first=Lukas I. |author2=Miller, Stephen |title=Designer of the Popular Kalashnikov Rifle Dies |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304020704579276314199448756?mod=e2fb |access-date=23 December 2013 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=23 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Star">{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/12/23/mikhail_kalashnikov_designer_of_ak47_rifle_dead_at_94.html |title=Mikhail Kalashnikov, designer of AK-47 rifle, dead at 94 |work=The Star|date= 23 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="Heintz">{{cite news |last=Heintz |first=Jim |title=Rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov dead at 94 |url=https://news.yahoo.com/rifle-designer-mikhail-kalashnikov-dead-94-163848393.html |agency=Associated Press |access-date=24 December 2013|date= 23 December 2013}}</ref> In January 2014, a letter that Kalashnikov wrote six months before his death to the leader of the [[Russian Orthodox Church]], [[Patriarch Kirill of Moscow|Patriarch Kirill]], was published by the Russian daily newspaper ''[[Izvestia]]''.<ref name=Izvestia>{{cite news|last=Telman|first=Denis|title=Before his death, wrote a letter of repentance Kalashnikov patriarch|newspaper=Izvestia|date=13 January 2014}}</ref> In the letter, he stated that he was suffering "spiritual pain" about whether he was responsible for the deaths caused by the weapons he created.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25709371 BBC News – Kalashnikov 'feared he was to blame' for AK-47 rifle deaths]. Bbc.co.uk (13 January 2014). Retrieved on 18 April 2014.</ref> Translated from the published letter he states, "I keep having the same unsolved question: if my rifle claimed people's lives, then can it be that I... a Christian and an Orthodox believer, was to blame for their deaths?".<ref>{{cite news | title=Kalashnikov 'feared he was to blame' for AK-47 rifle deaths | date=13 January 2014 | website=BBC | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-25709371}}</ref><ref name=Izvestia/>

The patriarch wrote back, thanked Kalashnikov, and said that he "was an example of patriotism and a correct attitude toward the country". Kirill added about the design responsibility for the deaths by the rifle, "the church has a well-defined position when the weapon is defense of the Motherland, the Church supports its creators and the military, which use it."<ref name=Izvestia/>

He became one of the first people buried in the [[Federal Military Memorial Cemetery]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

==Family==
Kalashnikov's father, Timofey Aleksandrovich Kalashnikov (1883–1930), was a peasant. He completed two grades of [[parochial school]] and could read and write. In 1901, he married Aleksandra Frolovna Kaverina (1884–1957), who was illiterate throughout her life. They had 19 children, but only eight survived to adult age; Kalashnikov was born 17th, and was close to death at age six.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Andrea Drusch|title=10 things about Kalashnikov|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/mikhail-kalashnikov-facts-101486|access-date=2020-12-28|website=POLITICO|date=23 December 2013 |language=en}}</ref>

In 1930, the government labeled Timofey Aleksandrovich a [[kulak]], confiscated his property, and deported him to Siberia, along with most of the family. The eldest three siblings, daughters Agasha (b. 1905) and Anna and son Victor, were already married by 1930, and remained in Kuriya. After her husband's death in 1930, Aleksandra Frolovna married Efrem Kosach, a widower who had three children of his own.<ref name=r3/><ref name=r1/>

Mikhail Kalashnikov married twice, the first time to Ekaterina Danilovna Astakhova of Altai Krai. He married the second time to Ekaterina Viktorovna Moiseyeva (1921–1977).<ref name="NYT"/><ref name="weaponplace">{{cite web |script-title=ru:Калашников Михаил Тимофеевич  |url=http://www.weaponplace.ru/kalashnikov.php |language=ru |publisher=weaponplace.ru}}</ref> She was an engineer and did much technical drawing work for her husband. They had four children: daughters Nelli (b. 1942), Elena (b. 1948) and Natalya (1953–1983), and a son [[Victor Kalashnikov|Victor]] (1942–2018).<ref name=r3/><ref name="weaponplace"/> Victor also became a prominent small arms designer.

The title to the AK-47 trademark belonged to Mikhail Kalashnikov's family until 4 April 2016, when the [[Kalashnikov Concern]] won a lawsuit to invalidate the registration of the trademark.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://meduza.io/news/2016/04/04/kontsern-kalashnikov-otsudil-brend-ak-47-u-rodstvennikov-konstruktora|title=Концерн "Калашников" отсудил бренд АК-47 у&nbsp;родственников конструктора — Meduza|access-date=19 September 2017}}</ref>

==Weapon designs==
During his career, Kalashnikov designed about 150 models of small weapons.<ref name=academy/> The most famous of them are:
*[[AK-47]]
*[[AKM]]
*[[AK-74]] / AKS-74U / AK-74M / AKS-74
*[[AK-101]] / [[AK-102]]
*[[AK-103]] / [[AK-104]]
*[[AK-105]]
*[[RPK]] / RPK-74 
*[[PK machine gun|PK]] / PKM / PKP
*[[Saiga semi-automatic rifle]]

==Awards and tribute==
''Incorporates information from the corresponding article in the [[Russian Wikipedia]]''
* [[File:MEDAL OF SMALL ARMS KONSTRUKTOR MT Kalashnikov.jpg|thumb|The Russian [[Ministerial Awards of the Russian Federation|Medal of Small Arms Maker]] was introduced in 2008 and named after Kalashnikov.<ref name="RMIT">{{cite web |url=http://www.vedomstva-uniforma.ru/minprom/minprom_nagrady_z11.html |script-title=ru:ПОЛОЖЕНИЕ О НАГРУДНОМ ЗНАКЕ "МЕДАЛЬ ИМЕНИ КОНСТРУКТОРА СТРЕЛКОВОГО ОРУЖИЯ М.Т. КАЛАШНИКОВА |language=ru |publisher=The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade |date=27 June 2008}}</ref>]]Recipients of the [[Order of St. Andrew]]<ref>{{cite news|url = http://www.english.pravda.ru/news/society/showbiz/13-12-2001/25239-0/|title = Orthodox Christians honour memory of Saint Apostle Andrew the First-called|newspaper = Pravda|date = 13 December 2001|access-date = 13 December 2013|archive-date = 14 December 2013|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131214120957/http://english.pravda.ru/news/society/showbiz/13-12-2001/25239-0/|url-status = dead}}</ref>
*In 1998, he was awarded an [[Order of St. Andrew|Order of Saint Andrew the Protoclete]]
* On his 90th birthday on 10 November 2009, Kalashnikov was named a "[[Hero of the Russian Federation]]" and presented with a medal by [[President of Russia|President]] [[Dmitry Medvedev]] who lauded him for creating "the brand every Russian is proud of"<ref name=BBCpoet/>
* In 2012, [[Izhevsk State Technical University]] was named after Kalashnikov<ref name=aw1/>
* On 7 November 2014 a statue of Kalashnikov was unveiled at the [[Russian 102nd Military Base]] in [[Gyumri]], [[Armenia]]. Armenian Defense Minister [[Seyran Ohanyan]] attended the opening ceremony.<ref>{{cite web|title=На российской военной базе в Армении открыт памятник выдающемуся оружейнику Михаилу Калашникову|url=http://structure.mil.ru/structure/okruga/south/news/more.htm?id=11999394@egNews|website=mil.ru|publisher=[[Ministry of Defence (Russia)|Russian Ministry of Defence]]|date=7 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|script-title=hy:Գյումրիում բացվել է Միխայիլ Կալաշնիկովի արձանը|url=http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/26679507.html|agency=[[RFE/RL]] Armenian Service|date=7 November 2014|language=hy|newspaper=«Ազատ Եվրոպա/Ազատություն» Ռադիոկայան }}</ref>
* On 19 September 2017 a {{convert|9|m}} monument of Kalashnikov was unveiled in [[Garden Ring]], central Moscow.<ref name="veconomist" >{{cite news|title=A monument to Kalashnikov|url=https://www.economist.com/news/europe/21729445-father-ak-47-had-qualms-about-his-invention-vladimir-putins-russia-celebrates-it|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|date=21 September 2017}}</ref> An activist who sought to disrupt the ceremony by displaying a sign reading "a creator of weapons is a creator of death" was subsequently arrested.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/19/30ft-high-statue-of-mikhail-kalashnikov-unveiled-in-moscow|title=30ft-high statue of Mikhail Kalashnikov unveiled in Moscow|first=Marc|last=Bennetts|newspaper=The Guardian |date=19 September 2017|access-date=19 September 2017|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>

===Russian Federation===
; Decorations
*[[Hero of the Russian Federation]] (2009)
*[[Order of St. Andrew]] (2008)
*[[Order "For Merit to the Fatherland"]], 2nd class (1994)
*[[Order of Military Merit (Russia)|Order of Military Merit]] (2004)

; Awards
*State Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of design (1997)
*Award of the President of the Russian Federation in the field of education (2003)
*All-Russian Literary Prize of Suvorov (2009)[[File:Mikhail Kalashnikov 2019 stamp of Russia2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A 2019 Russian stamp dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Kalashnikov's birth]]

; Honorary diplomas
*Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation (1997, 1999)

; Medals
*Jubilee Medal "50 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
*Medal "Symbol of Science" (2007)
*Gold [[Medal of Zhukov]]
*Medal "For outstanding contribution to the development of the collection business in Russia"

; Acknowledgements
*Gratitude of the President of the Russian Federation (1997,1999,2002,2007)

===Soviet===
;Honors
*[[Hero of Socialist Labour]] (1958, 1976)
*[[Order of Lenin]] (1958, 1969, 1976)
*[[Order of the October Revolution]] (1974)
*[[Order of the Red Star]] (1949)
*[[Order of the Patriotic War]], 1st Class (1985)
*[[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] (1957)
*[[Order of Friendship of Peoples]] (1982)

;Medals
*Medal "Hammer and Sickle" (1958,1976)
*Medal "For Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945"
*Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
*Medal "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin"
*Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
*Jubilee Medal "Forty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
*Medal "For Distinction in Guarding the State Border of the USSR"
*Medal "Veteran of Labor" on behalf of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
*Jubilee Medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
*Jubilee Medal "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
*Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
*Jubilee Medal "60 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
*Jubilee Medal "70 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
*Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th anniversary of Moscow"

;Awards
*[[USSR State Prize|Stalin Prize]] (1949)
*[[Lenin Prize]] (1964)

===Foreign decorations===
*{{flagicon|Belarus}} [[Order of Honor (Belarus)|Order of Honor]] (1999)
*{{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} [[Order of Friendship (Kazakhstan)|Order of Friendship]], First Class (2003)

===Other honors===
*the home of Mikhail Kalashnikov in the village he set Courier lifetime bronze bust (1980)
*the name of the designer named projected prospect in Izhevsk (1994)
*"Honorary Citizen of the Altai Territory" (1997)
*Ministry of Economy of Russia award – The sign "of small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov" (1997)
*Union of scientific and engineering organizations and the Government of Udmurtia established an award named after Mikhail Kalashnikov (1999)
*Diamond company "Alrosa" extracted 29 December 1995 gem diamonds weighing 50.74 carats given the name "designer Mikhail Kalashnikov" (14.5 x 15, 0h15, 5&nbsp;mm, quality Stones Black) (1999)
*Mikhail Kalashnikov Cadet School in Votkinsk (2002)
*Award in his name at the School of Weapon Skills of Izhevsk (2002)
*Izhevsk State Cultural Institution "Museum of Mikhail Kalashnikov"
*"Honorary Engineer of Kazakhstan" (Kazakhstan; 2004)
*Gift from President Hugo Chávez, the highest award of the Republic – a copy of the famous sword of Simon Bolivar, which is a relic of Venezuela and the copy is equal to the highest award of the country (2009)
*The name of Mikhail Kalashnikov was given to the military department of the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg (2009)
*[[Izhevsk State Technical University]] was awarded the name of Mikhail Kalashnikov (2012)
*German knife company Boker has dedicated a series to him (2013)
*The companies that make Kalashnikov rifles, Izhmash and Izhevsk Mechanical Plant were merged and formally renamed [[Kalashnikov Concern]].<ref>Smith, Matthew (12 August 2013) [https://web.archive.org/web/20130817092059/http://www.janes.com/article/25839/izhmash-formally-renamed-kalashnikov Izhmash formally renamed Kalashnikov]. IHS Jane's Defence Weekly</ref> (2013)

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=academy>{{cite web |first=Georgy |last=Alexandrov |date=10 November 2009 |url=http://www.aif.ru/society/article/30717 |script-title=ru:Михаил Калашников: "Всё нужное – просто" |language=ru |publisher=[[Argumenty i Facty]]}}</ref>

<ref name=aw1>{{cite web |url=http://old.istu.ru/main/6755/ |script-title=ru:Теперь ИжГТУ носит имя М. Т. Калашникова |language=ru |publisher=istu.ru |date=21 February 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=BBCpoet>{{Cite news| title = Kalashnikov 'wanted to be poet and more'
 | publisher = BBC World News 74
 | date = 10 November 2009
 | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8353427.stm
 | access-date = 11 November 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=Bolotin>{{Cite book |last=Bolotin |first=D.N. |year=1995 |title=Soviet Small-Arms and Ammunition |publisher=Finnish Arms Museum Foundation |pages=69–70, 115 |isbn=9519718419}}</ref>

<ref name=bse>{{cite web |url=http://bse-soviet-encyclopedia.info/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%8D%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F/21924/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BB_%D0%A2%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 |script-title=ru:Калашников Михаил Тимофеевич |language=ru |publisher=[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]] |access-date=20 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108082916/http://bse-soviet-encyclopedia.info/%D0%91%D0%BE%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%88%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D0%A1%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%8F_%D1%8D%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BB%D0%BE%D0%BF%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F/21924/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%88%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2_%D0%9C%D0%B8%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%B8%D0%BB_%D0%A2%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B5%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87 |archive-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<ref name=k1>{{Cite journal |last=Kalashnikov |first=Mikhail |title=How and Why I Produced My Submachine Gun |journal=Sputnik: A Digest of the Soviet Press |publisher=Novosti Press Agency |location=Moscow |date=June 1983 |pages=70–75 }}</ref>

<!-- <ref name=n1>Compare Kalashnikov and [[Dmitry Medvedev]] in [[:File:Kalashnikov Medvedev.jpg]]. Medvedev is ca. {{convert|1.60|m|abbr=on}}. {{cite web |last=Watt |first=Nick |author2=Mucha, Jenna |date=5 July 2008 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=5314996&page=1 |title=World's Leaders Don't Stand So Tall |publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref> -->

<ref name=KalashnikovSMHpoet>{{Cite news| title = Poet at heart: Kalashnikov inventory turns 90 in a hail of praise
 | publisher = [[The Sydney Morning Herald]] (Australia)
 | date = 12 November 2009
 | url = http://www.smh.com.au/world/poet-at-heart-kalashnikov-inventor-turns-90-in-a-hail-of-praise-20091111-ia0v.html
 | access-date = 16 December 2009}}</ref>

<ref name=kpss>{{Cite journal |url=http://www.rusarchives.ru/publication/kalashnikov.shtml |script-title=ru:Работаю по призванию |language=ru |journal=Отечественные архивы |issue=1 |year=2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121220143226/http://rusarchives.ru/publication/kalashnikov.shtml |archive-date=20 December 2012  }} ''Contains an autobiography and a copy of the resume submitted with Kalashnikov's application to the Soviet Communist Party''</ref>

<ref name=r1>{{cite web|url=http://kalashnikov-weapons-museum.ak47-guide.com/ch2.html |title=The AK-47 Kalashnikov Museum |publisher=Kalashnikov-weapons-museum.ak47-guide.com |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=r2>{{cite web|author=Alexandr Osipovich |url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9tphEADS_KEd6Qo54sAqM7w7KqQ |title=Gun inventor, 'happy man' Kalashnikov turns 90 |date=10 November 2009 |access-date=20 November 2009 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111108020518/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g9tphEADS_KEd6Qo54sAqM7w7KqQ |archive-date=8 November 2011 }}</ref>

<ref name=r3>{{cite web|url=http://www.kalashnikov.name/index/0-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320061554/http://www.kalashnikov.name/index/0-15 |archive-date=20 March 2012 |title=Биография М.Т.Калашникова|publisher=Kalashnikov.name |access-date=26 December 2012}}</ref>

<ref name=r4>{{cite web |first=Kate |last=Connolly |date=30 July 2002 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/jul/30/russia.kateconnolly |title=Kalashnikov: 'I wish I'd made a lawnmower' |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

<ref name=r5>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/ak-47-inventor-doesnt-lose-sleep-over-havoc-wrought-with-his-invention |title=AK-47 Inventor Doesn't Lose Sleep Over Havoc Wrought With His Invention |publisher= The Associated Press via Fox News |date=6 July 2007}}</ref>

<ref name=r6>{{cite interview |title=Interview of Mikhail Kalashnikov |publisher=[[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]] |date=15 December 2009 |work=Guns of the World}}</ref>

<ref name=r7>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2772975.stm |title=Coming soon – the Kalashnikov brolly? |publisher=BBC |date=17 February 2003}}</ref>

<ref name=r8>{{cite web |first=Kate |last=Connolly |date=17 February 2003 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1422352/Kalashnikov-lends-his-name-to-an-umbrella.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/1422352/Kalashnikov-lends-his-name-to-an-umbrella.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Kalashnikov lends his name to an umbrella |work=The Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

<ref name=r9>{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-71989519.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610172638/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-71989519.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=10 June 2014 |title=Care for a Kalashnikov Umbrella? |newspaper=The [[Moscow Times]] |date=21 February 2003}}</ref>

<ref name=r11>{{cite news|author=Solovyov, Dmitry |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLQ148454 |title=Kalashnikov, 90, decries "criminal" use of rifle |work=Reuters |date=26 October 2009 |access-date=20 November 2009}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
* {{Cite journal| last=Forge | first=John | title=No Consolation For Kalashnikov | journal=Philosophy Now | url=http://www.philosophynow.org/issue59/59forge.htm | access-date=24 January 2007 |date=January–February 2007 | issue=59 }}
* ''Ружье. Оружие и амуниция'' double/special issue of 1997/5-6 has a fairly complete inventory of Kalashnikov's designs. Issues 1 and 2 of the same magazine from 1999 have articles on Kalashnikov's 1st sub-machine gun (1942) [http://grigorew.narod.ru/raznoe/1942.htm][http://www.sinopa.ee/kalashnikov/r9899/ruzjo0199/ruz019930/ru019930.htm] and respectively his first rifle (1944–45) [http://grigorew.narod.ru/raznoe/karkal.htm][http://www.sinopa.ee/kalashnikov/r9899/ruzjo0299/ruzjo029904/ru029904.htm].
* ''The Gun'' by C.J. Chivers thoroughly describes Mikhails early home life and retails the history of the AK-47, its distribution and entrance into prevalence.
* [[AK-47 (2020 film)|Kalashnikov]] - biography film (2020)

== See also ==
* [[List of Heroes of the Russian Federation]]

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://en.museum-mtk.ru/ M.T. Kalashnikov Museum and Exhibition Small Arms Complex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618075431/http://en.museum-mtk.ru/ |date=18 June 2021 }}
*[https://www.theguardian.com/g2/story/0,3604,1059879,00.html 'I sleep soundly'] – Interview with and article on Mikhail Kalashnikov at the age of 83, from [[The Guardian]] newspaper.
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5116124.stm Mikhail Kalashnikov backs weapons control]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5116772.stm?ls BBC NEWS Profile: Mikhail Kalashnikov]
*[http://kalashnikov-weapons-museum.ak47-guide.com/ Free illustrated virtual guided tour of the Museum of Mikhail Kalashnikov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081216011344/http://kalashnikov-weapons-museum.ak47-guide.com/ |date=16 December 2008 }}
*[http://www.weaponplace.ru/kalashnikov.php The life of Mikhail Kalashnikov] {{in lang|ru}}
*[http://rusarchives.ru/victory65/pages/04_15_1.htm 7,62 мм ручной пулемет М.Т. Калашникова. 1944 г.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110913/http://rusarchives.ru/victory65/pages/04_15_1.htm |date=24 December 2013 }} Kalashikov model 1944 light machine gun—his 2nd design.
*[https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21593387-mikhail-timofeyevich-kalashnikov-weapons-inventor-died-december-23rd-aged-94-mikhail The Economist: Obituary 11 January 2014] Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, weapons inventor, died on 23 December, aged 94

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalashnikov, Mikhail}}
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