• 1916 – Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Ukrainian-Russian soldier and sniper (d. 1974)

Lyudmila Pavlichenko


Pavlichenko in 1943

Native name: Людмила Михайловна Павличенко
Birth name: Lyudmila Mikhailovna Belova
Nickname(s): Lady Death
Born: 12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1916; Bila Tserkva, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine)
Died: 10 October 1974 (aged 58); Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Buried: Novodevichy Cemetery, Moscow
Allegiance: Soviet Union
Service/branch: Red Army
Years of service: 1941–1953
Rank: Lieutenant in the Army

Lyudmila Mikhailovna Pavlichenko (Russian: Людмила Михайловна Павличенко; Ukrainian: Людмила Михайлівна Павличенко, romanized: Lyudmyla Mykhailivna Pavlychenko, née Belova; 12 July [O.S. 29 June] 1916 – 10 October 1974) was a Soviet sniper in the Red Army during World War II. She is credited with killing 309 enemy combatants. She served in the Red Army during the siege of Odessa and the siege of Sevastopol, during the early stages of the fighting on the Eastern Front. Her score of 309 kills likely places her within the top five snipers of all time, but her kills may be significantly more numerous, as a confirmed kill has to be witnessed by a third party.

After she was injured in battle by a mortar shell, she was evacuated to Moscow. After she recovered from her injuries, she trained other Red Army snipers and was a public spokeswoman for the Red Army. In 1942, she toured the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. After the war ended in 1945, she was reassigned as a senior researcher for the Soviet Navy. She died of a stroke at the age of 58.

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