Gelovani, Archil Viktorovich

It comes from the Georgian princely family Gelovani . Born in the family of Prince Viktor Georgievich Gelovani (1878-1921) - the most famous mechanical engineer in the Caucasus and Anna Serapionovna Shengelia .

He graduated from the Tbilisi Art School, Transcaucasian Industrial Institute named after S. M. Kirov in 1936. Since 1936, he worked in construction organizations in Tbilisi , since September 1937, he worked in the Inzhstroy trust (Tbilisi), deputy head of the production department, from August 1938, head of the production and technical department, then deputy chief engineer of the trust.

In the Red Army since August 1939 ^[2] . He graduated from special courses at the Higher Naval Engineering and Technical School named after Dzerzhinsky in 1939. Designated to serve on the Black Sea Fleet : civil engineer-foreman, from April 1940 - head of the production and technical department of construction No. 8 in Ochakovo . From September 1940 - senior engineer - deputy construction manager No. 12 in Izmail (the construction of a naval base with coastal batteries), from May 1941 - chief engineer - head of the planning and production department of construction No. 7 of the fleet in Sarabuz .

He participated in the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. He distinguished himself in the evacuation of equipment and personnel of military construction from Nikolaev . In August-September 1941, he was the head of the operational military-construction group, which, under artillery shelling and air raids in the area of ​​the Arabat Spit and the Chongar Isthmus, installed eight stationary coastal artillery batteries and two 152 mm mobile batteries (including the 127th artillery marine battery of the Black Sea Fleet ). These batteries helped Soviet troops delay the advance of the enemy in the Crimea in the battles of Perekop . For courage and bravery in carrying out this assignment, he was awarded the Order of the Red Star .

At the end of 1941 he was appointed chief engineer of special construction, and from April 1942 he was appointed chief of special construction No. 11 of the Black Sea Fleet . He headed the construction of defensive facilities on the Caucasian coast of the Black Sea , as well as the construction of airfields for naval aviation in Adler and Gudauta . Member of the Battle of the Caucasus . Since June 1944 - the head of construction No. 8 for the restoration of the Nikolaev naval base. Since April 1945 - construction manager No. 7, which carried out the restoration of the Odessa naval base . Over the years of the war he was awarded two orders.

After the war, he continued to serve in the Black Sea Fleet , from April 1948 he temporarily served as head of the Main Naval Construction Directorate of the Black Sea Fleet, from May 1948 he was the head of the department in this department, and from December 1948 he was the chief engineer and deputy head of this department. Since April 1949 - Chief Engineer - Deputy Head of the Main Naval Construction Directorate of the USSR Navy . Since April 1953 - Head of the Office for the Construction of Naval Special Purpose Facilities "Sevastopolvoenmorstroy". Since July 1959 - Head of the Main Naval Construction Directorate of the Black Sea Fleet - Assistant Commander of the Black Sea Fleet for Construction. In 1961 he was transferred from the Navy to the construction troops. He graduated from the service in the navy in the general rank.

Since March 1961 - head of the Special Construction Directorate - deputy head of the Main Military Construction Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Since November 1962, he was the head of the Main Engineering Directorate of the Strategic Missile Forces , headed the construction of almost all objects of a new type of the Armed Forces. From June 1964 - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Strategic Missile Forces for Construction, at the same time in June 1964 - November 1969 he was a member of the Military Council of the Strategic Missile Forces. Since November 1969, he was First Deputy Head of Construction and Quartering of Troops of the USSR Ministry of Defense . In June 1971, the State Expertise of the USSR Ministry of Defense was created for the first time in the USSR, and General Gelovani was appointed its first chief. Since March 1974 - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR for the construction and stationing of troops.

Member of the CPSU since 1941. He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of the 9th convocation (1975-1978) ^[2] .

The military rank of Marshal of Engineering Troops was awarded on October 28, 1977. Died after a long serious illness. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow .

The son of a marshal is an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Viktor Archilovich Gelovani (born in 1944), a mathematician and a major specialist in the field of mathematical modeling.

• Order of Lenin (1966)
• Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st degree (1944)
• Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1974)
• Two Orders of the Red Star (1942, 1954)
• Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" 3rd degree (1975)
• USSR medals
• Foreign Awards
• Lenin Prize (1968)
• USSR State Prize (1977)
• Honored Builder of the RSFSR (1971)
• Honored Builder of the Ukrainian SSR

• Major General of the Engineering Service (05/25/1959)
• Lieutenant General of the Engineering Service (06/16/1965)
• Lieutenant General Engineer (11/18/1971)
• Colonel General Engineer (12/15/1972)
• Marshal of Engineering Troops (10.28.1977)

• Honorary Citizen of Sevastopol ( June 16, 1976 )
• A street in Sevastopol and avenue in Tbilisi are named after Marshal Gelovani
• The name of the marshal is the hydrographic vessel of the Pacific Fleet (in operation from 1983 to the present)
• The tanker of the Georgian Shipping Company was named after the marshal (in operation since 1986, in 1995 it was sold by Georgia abroad, and is currently divided)
• The name of the marshal is the Batumi Naval College (since 1981 )
• plaques were erected in Moscow on the house in which he lived (9 Sivtsev Vrazhek lane) and in Tbilisi ^[3]
• Busts of Marshal A.A. Gelovani established in the cities of Sevastopol and Tbilisi

• Father - Prince Gelovani, Victor Georgievich - a famous Georgian mechanical engineer .
• Mother - Princess Shengelia, Anna Serapionovna

He was married to Ketevan Vladimirovna Alkhazishvili (born 1920), a doctor, and worked for a long time at the N.V. Sklifosovsky Institute in Moscow. In this marriage a son was born:

• Gelovani, Victor Archilovich (born 1944) - Soviet and Russian scientist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences , doctor of technical sciences .

The son of the latter, the grandson of the marshal:

• Gelovani, Archil Viktorovich (born 1974) - Russian entrepreneur, film producer.

• US Civil War - Yokota / [under the total. ed. N.V. Ogarkova ]. - M .: Military Publishing House of the USSR Defense Ministry , 1979. - 678 p. - ( Soviet military encyclopedia : [in 8 tons.]; 1976-1980, vol. 3).
• Sukhnev G.A., Masliy S. B. Military Council of the Strategic Missile Forces. - Moscow, 2007.
• Military Encyclopedic Dictionary of Strategic Missile Forces / Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation .; Ch. Ed.: I. D. Sergeev , V.N. Yakovlev , N.E. Solovtsov . - M .: Great Russian Encyclopedia , 1999. - 632 p. - 8500 copies - ISBN 5-85270-315-X . .
• Moskal E.N. Marshal is a creator. M., 1998.
• Lurie V.M. Admirals and generals of the Navy of the USSR (1946-1960). - M.: Kuchkovo field, 2007 .-- 672 p. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0009-9 . - S.108-111.
• Biography A.V. Gelovani on the Space Memorial site
• Obituary: The Red Star, August 22, 1978

• The article "Marshal-creator" on the site "VPK-Military-industrial courier" (inaccessible link)
• https://marshal-sssr.ru/ gelovani-archil-viktorovich/