Lyudmila Pavlichenko Biography

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko was a Soviet Union sniper. Find more about her family, personal
life, career, achievements, etc.

Quick Facts
Also Known As Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko, Lyudmila
Mikhailovna Belova
Famous as One of the Most Successful Female Snipers in
Recorded History
Nationality Russian
Born on 12 July 1916 AD
Height 1.56 m
Zodiac Sign Cancer
Born in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine
Died on 27 October 1974 AD
Place of death Moscow, Russia
Father Olena Trokhymivna Byelova
Mother Mykhaylo Byelov
Children Rostyslav Pavlichenko
Education Kyiv University
Awards Order of Lenin
Hero of the Soviet Union
Gold Star
Order of Lenin
Medal

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Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko was a Soviet Union sniper, considered the most successful female
sniper and one of the top military snipers in war history. An amateur sharpshooter, Lyudmila kept her
university study on hold to join the Red Army as Germany invaded Soviet Union. Although she had
choice of serving as a nurse she insisted to join the infantry and was assigned to the 25th Rifle Division
of the Red Army. She recorded a total of 309 sniper kills in the Second World War and was pulled back
from combat due to her growing status. She was sent to Canada and the United States for publicity visit.
She became the first citizen of Soviet Union who was received by a US President when she was
welcomed by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the White House. She was later promoted as major, however she
never returned to the warfront and instead gave training to Soviet snipers till end of the war. She
received several accolades for her war contributions including being awarded the Gold Star of the Hero
of the Soviet Union.

Childhood & Early Life:

She was born Lyudmila Mikhailovna Belova on July 12, 1916, in Bila Tserkva, Russian Empire
(presently in Ukraine). When she was 14 years old she relocated to Kiev with her family where
she got enrolled into an OSOAVIAKhIM shooting club and eventually evolved as an amateur
sharpshooter. Meanwhile she worked at the Kiev Arsenal factory as a grinder.
She married Alexei Pavlichenko in 1932 when she was just 16 years old; however the marriage
did not last long. The couple together had a son called Rostislav born in 1932.
Lyudmila obtained a master’s degree in history from the Kiev University in 1937 majoring on
the life of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

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Role During the Second World War:

The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, in the midst of the Second World War code named as
Operation Barbarossa began on June 22, 1941. During that time Lyudmila was attending her
fourth year studies at the Kiev University. She came forward as one of the first round of
volunteers at the Odessa recruiting office.
Although she was given the option of serving as a nurse, she requested to be assigned in the
infantry and accordingly she was delegated to the 25th Rifle Division of the Red Army. With this
she emerged among the 2000 female snipers who fought in the Second World War and remained
one of the 500 snipers who survived the war.
She used a semi-automatic Tokarev SVT-40 rifle having 3.5X telescopic sight to accomplish her
first two sniper kills that occurred close to Belyayevka in early August 1941. As the month
progressed she garnered a hundred confirmed sniper kills to her name following which she was
elevated to the rank of senior sergeant on that very month.
She recorded a total of 187 sniper kills fighting near Odessa for around 2 ½ months. On October
15, 1941, the Romanians seized control of Odessa following which her unit retreated to
Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. There she fought for over 8 months.
In May 1942, the Southern Army Council cited Lyudmila, who was recently elevated as a
Lieutenant, for eliminating 257 German soldiers. The confirmed sniper kills by her amounted to
309 during the Second World War among whom 36 were snipers from the enemy sides.
A mortar fire injured her in June 1942 and although she eventually recovered from such wound,
within a month of such recovery she was pulled back from the warfront due to her growing
status.
She made publicity visit in support of the war to Allied countries, Canada and the United States.
She emerged as the first citizen of the Soviet Union who was received by a President of the
United States when Franklin D. Roosevelt welcomed the ace sniper to the White House. She also
received invitation from the First Lady of the US Eleanor Roosevelt to tour across the US and
share her experiences.
She attended the International Student Assembly in Washington, D.C. and also the Congress of
Industrial Organizations’ meetings. She appeared in public rallies and gave speeches in the New
York City and Chicago.
She received a Colt semi-automatic pistol from the US and a sighted Winchester rifle from
Canada. The latter is now displayed in Moscow’s Central Armed Forces Museum.
She went to the UK and visited Coventry on November 21, 1942. There the Coventry workers
gave her donations to garner 3 X-ray units for the Red Army. Her visits of the day included the
Standard Car Factory, which garnered her much of the funds collected, the Birmingham factory,
the Alfred Herbert works and the Coventry Cathedral ruins.
Lyudmila was elevated to the rank of a major however she did not get back to the warfront and
instead started training the Soviet snipers as an instructor till the end of the war.
She was presented with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union award, the highest

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 distinction in the Soviet Union in 1943. Her efforts during the war were also recognised that year
by issuing a Soviet postage stamp in her honour.
Over the years she had also received several honours and accolades for her war contributions.
These included the Order of Lenin twice; Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great
Patriotic War 1941–1945"; the Medal "For the Defence of Sevastopol"; the Medal "For Battle
Merit"; and Medal "For the Defence of Odessa".

Life After the War, Death & Legacy:

As the war ended, Lyudmila resumed and completed her studies at the Kiev University and then
commenced a career of a historian. She served the Chief Headquarters of the Soviet Navy as a
research assistant from 1945 to 1953. Later she got actively involved with the Soviet Committee
of the Veterans of War.
This ace sniper who earned international repute for her valour and war contributions passed away
on October 10, 1974, at 58 years of age in Moscow, Soviet Union. Her remains were interred in
Moscow’s Novodevichye Cemetery.
In 1976, the Soviet Union issued another commemorative stamp featuring her portrait.
American singer-songwriter and one of the most prominent figures in American folk music
Woody Guthrie composed a song ("Miss Pavlichenko") commemorating Lyudmila’s war
contributions and visits to Canada and the US. The song was included in ‘The Asch
Recordings’, presumably the most famous recordings of Guthrie.
The commercially successful biographical war film ‘Battle for Sevastopol’, a joint Russian-
Ukrainian production that released in both the nations on April 2, 2015 was based on the life of
Lyudmila. The film had its international premiere a couple of weeks later at the Beijing
International Film Festival.
In February 2018, Greenhill Books published ‘Lady Death’, the first English language edition of
Lyudmila’s memoirs.

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