born Dec. 28, 1897, Lodeino, near Veliky Ustyug, Russia
died May 21, 1973, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.
Soviet general in World War II. When the Germans invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, Konev led the first counterattack of the war.
He defeated Heinz Guderian 's advance on Moscow and halted large German forces in 1942 and 1943. In 1944 his army was the first to march onto German soil; with the forces of Georgy K. Zhukov , it captured Berlin. After the war he served as commander in chief of Soviet ground forces (194650) and later of Warsaw Pact forces (195560).