Mikhail Mikhalkov
Encyclopedia
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
– 5 September 2006, Moscow) was a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
intelligence officer and writer working under the pen names M. Andronov (М. Андронов) and M. Lugovykh (М. Луговых). He was a younger brother of Soviet poet Sergey Mikhalkov
Sergey Mikhalkov
Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables who had the opportunity to write the lyrics of his country's national anthem on three different occasions, spanning almost 60 years.-Life and career:...
Biography
Mikhail Mikhalkov was born to the MikhalkovMikhalkov
Mikhalkov is a noble family known from the end of the 15th century. Many of their scions worked for the Soviet Union and modern Russia.Among notable Mikhalkovs are:...
noble family that was relatively wealthy even under Soviets. In his childhood the family kept a German governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...
so he had a reasonable German-language skills. In 1940 he graduated from a School of NKVD Border Troops.
In September 1941 he served in the NKVD Special Section (counterintelligence; which later became SMERSH
SMERSH
SMERSH was the counter-intelligence agency in the Red Army formed in late 1942 or even earlier, but officially founded on April 14, 1943. The name SMERSH was coined by Joseph Stalin...
) of the Southwestern Front under Mikhail Kirponos
Mikhail Kirponos
Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos was a Soviet Ukrainian general of the Red Army. Being accorded the highest military decoration, the Hero of the Soviet Union title, for the skill and courage in commanding a division in the 1939-1940 Finnish campaign, Kirponos is mostly remembered for his crucial role...
and was taken a POW after the collapse of Soviet defense of Kiev
Battle of Kiev (1941)
The Battle of Kiev was the German name for the operation that resulted in a very large encirclement of Soviet troops in the vicinity of Kiev during World War II. It is considered the largest encirclement of troops in history. The operation ran from 23 August – 26 September 1941 as part of Operation...
. Thrice he was put in German POW camps and thrice he managed to escape. Pretending to be an ethnic German from Ukraine, he managed to get a position as a kitchen hand in the 2nd SS Division Das Reich
2nd SS Division Das Reich
The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich was a Waffen-SS division during World War II. It is considered to be an elite formation amongst the thirty-eight divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS....
. He then escaped to Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, where he met a Swiss industrialist who offered him an employment. Mikhalkov worked in Switzerland, France, Belgium and Turkey but eventually managed to cross the front line in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
dressed in the uniform of a captain of 3rd SS Division Totenkopf
3rd SS Division Totenkopf
The SS Division Totenkopf , also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke...
he killed.
He was arrested by the Soviet military and because of the emotional stress could not speak Russian but only German, still talking through interpreters he provided important information on the position of German troops as well as to convey that he is in fact a Soviet NKVD officer, brother of the author of the National Anthem of the Soviet Union
National Anthem of the Soviet Union
The National Anthem of the Soviet Union or the State Anthem of the USSR was introduced during World War II on March 15, 1944, replacing The Internationale as the official national anthem of the Soviet Union as well as the national anthem of the Russian SFSR...
, Sergei Mikhalkov. After the confirmation of his identity Mikhail Mikhalkov was sent to Moscow where he worked as a secret NKVD agent in Lubyanka prison
Lubyanka (KGB)
The Lubyanka is the popular name for the headquarters of the KGB and affiliated prison on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. It is a large building with a facade of yellow brick, designed by Alexander V...
. He used to be sent to a prison cell, befriended the inmates, then shared the obtained information with NKVD investigators. Soon Mikhalkov himself was arrested and sentenced as a German spy.
He was sentenced to three years of Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
camps and five years of exile. Afterwards he was forbidden to live in Moscow. In 1953 after Stalin's death KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
proposed Mikhalkov to write a book (named In labyrinths of deadly risk В лабиринтах смертельного риска) about his adventures during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1956 he was rehabilitated, awarded an Order of Glory
Order of Glory
Established on 8 November 1943, the Order of Glory was an Order of the Soviet Union. It was awarded to non-commissioned officers and rank-and-file of the armed forces, as well as junior lieutenants of the air force, for bravery in the face of the enemy.The Order of Glory, which was modelled...
and allowed to live in Moscow. The book was translated into German and French and printed as a propaganda piece for foreign readers. The Russian original of the book was published only in 1991 with the onset of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
. An expanded version of the book was included into the Two brothers - two fates publication. His nephew Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Mikhalkov
Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union.Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family. His great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a Galitzine princess...
announced his intention to film a TV serial based on Mikhail's story.
After rehabilitation Mikhalkov worked in KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
offices, in the Political Department of Soviet Army
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
and in the organization of World War II veterans. He also wrote children poetry, texts of songs and biographies.
Published by Mikhail Mikhalkov
- Two lives (about World War II heroes P. Koshkarev and A. Romanov)
- In labyrinths of deadly risk - autobiography
- Articles of D. S. MirskyD. S. MirskyD.S. Mirsky is the English pen-name of Dmitry Petrovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky , often known as Prince Mirsky , a Russian political and literary historian who promoted the knowledge and translations of Russian literature in Britain and of English literature in the Soviet Union.-Life:A scion of the...
Published posthumously
- Two brothers - two fates (together with Sergei Mikhalkov);
- F. Plevako
- Wolf Messing
- Loves and Myths of Family Happiness
- Fairytail Horse
- Children stories in rhimes
- History of Brest Museum
- Front
- Children Poetry
Further reading
- Mikhail Mikhalkov, Sergey Mikhalkov, Two brothers - two fates, 2005, ISBN 5-9524-1884-8