Measures 5" x 7", b/w, printed on thin matte photo paper. Four orders of Lenin allow us to narrow down the date of this photo to 1945-47 (he got his fourth order of Lenin in 1945 and his fifth one in 1947).

In excellent condition. The emulsion is pristine, the paper shows no corner bumps, wrinkles or any other wear or damage.

Leonid Govorov (Леонид Александрович Говоров, 1897 - 1955) began his military career fighting aga

Measures 5" x 7", b/w, printed on thin matte photo paper. Four orders of Lenin allow us to narrow down the date of this photo to 1945-47 (he got his fourth order of Lenin in 1945 and his fifth one in 1947).

In excellent condition. The emulsion is pristine, the paper shows no corner bumps, wrinkles or any other wear or damage.

Leonid Govorov (Леонид Александрович Говоров, 1897 - 1955) began his military career fighting against the Red Army, including participation in the spring offensive in admiral Kolchak's armies. Later, Govorov claimed that he had been conscripted into Kolchak's army but in the award documents and other records he was listed as a volunteer.

In December of 1919 Govorov deserted from Kolchak's army but continued to fight in the city of Tomsk against the Bolsheviks. However, as soon as the Red Army seized Tomsk, Govorov joined it voluntarily. That was the beginning of the rest of his military career.

He fought valiantly, and was decorated (order of the Red Banner, 1921), but as an artillerist, he began to focus on the science of it. From 1926 through the early 1930s, he graduates from advanced artillery courses, higher academic course at the M. Frunze Military Academy. Having mastered the German language, he passed the test and got certified as a military translator. Finally, in 1936 he was accepted into the Academy of the General Staff of the RKKA (Russian abbreviation for "Red Army of Workers and Peasants") in the class that later became known as "the marshals class" (4 future Marshals of the Soviet Union, 6 Generals of the Army, 8 Colonel Generals, and 1 Admiral were among his classmates).

During WW2, Govorov commanded the 5th Army at the doorsteps of Moscow, and took part in the great counterattack of December 1941 that saved the Soviet capital. He was then made Commander of the Leningrad Front, subsequently breaking the blockade. Govorov was one of only eleven recipients of the Order of Victory. By 1955 he became Deputy Defense Minister and Commander of Air Defense of the Soviet Union.

Govorov died in 1955. He was cremated and buried in the Kremlin Wall in Red Square, the highest posthumous honor in the Soviet Union.

Please note that the penny in our photo is for size reference.
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