Vasily Chapaev short biography. People's hero Vasily Chapaev. Biography and activities of Vasily Chapaev

130 years ago, on February 9, 1887, the future hero was born Civil War, people's commander Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. Vasily Chapaev fought heroically during the First World War, and during the Civil War he became a legendary figure, a self-taught man who rose to high command positions due to his own abilities in the absence of special military education. He became a real legend when not only official myths, but also artistic fiction firmly overshadowed the real historical figure.

In search of a better life, the Chapaev family moved to the village of Balakovo, Nikolaev district, Samara province. Since childhood, Vasily worked a lot, worked as a sex worker in a tea shop, as an assistant to an organ grinder, a merchant, and helped his father in carpentry. Ivan Stepanovich enrolled his son in a local parochial school, the patron of which was his wealthy cousin. There were already priests in the Chapaev family, and the parents wanted Vasily to become a clergyman, but life decreed otherwise. IN church school Vasily learned to write and read syllables. One day he was punished for a crime - Vasily was put in a cold winter punishment cell in only his underwear. Realizing an hour later that he was freezing, the child broke the window and jumped from the height of the third floor, breaking his arms and legs. Thus ended Chapaev’s studies.

In the fall of 1908, Vasily was drafted into the army and sent to Kyiv. But already in the spring next year, apparently due to illness, Chapaev was transferred from the army to the reserve and transferred to first-class militia warriors. Before the First World War he worked as a carpenter. In 1909, Vasily Ivanovich married Pelageya Nikanorovna Metlina, the daughter of a priest. They lived together for 6 years and had three children. From 1912 to 1914, Chapaev and his family lived in the city of Melekess (now Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region).

It is worth noting that family life Things didn’t work out for Vasily Ivanovich. Pelageya, when Vasily went to the front, went with the children to a neighbor. At the beginning of 1917, Chapaev went to his native place and intended to divorce Pelageya, but was satisfied with taking the children from her and returning them to their parents’ house. Soon after this, he became friends with Pelageya Kamishkertseva, the widow of Pyotr Kamishkertsev, a friend of Chapaev, who died of a wound during the fighting in the Carpathians (Chapaev and Kamishkertsev promised each other that if one of the two was killed, the survivor would take care of his friend’s family). However, Kamishkertseva also cheated on Chapaeva. This circumstance was revealed shortly before Chapaev’s death and dealt him a strong moral blow. IN Last year During his life, Chapaev also had an affair with the wife of Commissar Furmanov, Anna (there is an opinion that it was she who became the prototype of Anka the Machine Gunner), which led to an acute conflict with Furmanov. Furmanov wrote denunciations against Chapaev, but later admitted in his diaries that he was simply jealous of the legendary division commander.

At the beginning of the war, on September 20, 1914, Chapaev was called up for military service and sent to the 159th reserve infantry regiment in the city of Atkarsk. In January 1915, he went to the front as part of the 326th Belgorai Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Infantry Division from the 9th Army of the Southwestern Front. Was injured. In July 1915 he graduated from the training team, received the rank of junior non-commissioned officer, and in October - senior officer. Participated in the Brusilov breakthrough. He finished the war with the rank of sergeant major. He fought well, was wounded and shell-shocked several times, for his bravery he was awarded the St. George medal and soldiers' St. George's crosses three degrees. Thus, Chapaev was one of those soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the tsarist imperial army who went through the most severe school of the First World War and soon became the core of the Red Army.

Sergeant Major Chapaev with his wife Pelageya Nikanorovna, 1916

Civil War

I met the February revolution in a hospital in Saratov. On September 28, 1917 he joined the RSDLP(b). He was elected commander of the 138th reserve infantry regiment stationed in Nikolaevsk. On December 18, the district congress of Soviets elected him military commissar of the Nikolaev district. Organized the district Red Guard of 14 detachments. He took part in the campaign against General Kaledin (near Tsaritsyn), then in the spring of 1918 in the campaign of the Special Army to Uralsk. On his initiative, on May 25, a decision was made to reorganize the Red Guard detachments into two Red Army regiments: named after Stepan Razin and named after Pugachev, united into the Pugachev brigade under the command of Vasily Chapaev. Later he took part in battles with the Czechoslovaks and People's Army, from whom Nikolaevsk was recaptured, renamed Pugachev.

On September 19, 1918, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Nikolaev Division. In battles with the Whites, Cossacks and Czech interventionists, Chapaev showed himself to be a strong commander and an excellent tactician, skillfully assessing the situation and suggesting optimal solution, as well as a personally brave man who enjoyed the authority and love of the fighters. During this period, Chapaev repeatedly personally led troops into attack. According to the temporary commander of the 4th Soviet Army of the former General Staff, Major General A. A. Baltiysky, Chapaev’s “lack of general military education affects the technique of command and control and the lack of breadth to cover military affairs. Full of initiative, but uses it unbalancedly due to the lack of military education. However, Comrade Chapaev clearly identifies all the data on the basis of which, with appropriate military education, both technology and a justified military scope will undoubtedly appear. The desire to get military education, in order to get out of the state of “military darkness”, and then again join the ranks of the battle front. You can be sure that Comrade Chapaev’s natural talents, combined with military education, will give bright results.”

In November 1918, Chapaev was sent to the newly created Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army in Moscow to improve his education. He stayed at the Academy until February 1919, then he left his studies without permission and returned to the front. “Studying at the academy is a good thing and very important, but it’s a shame and a pity that the White Guards are being beaten without us,” said the red commander. Chapaev noted about his studies: “I haven’t read about Hannibal before, but I see that he was an experienced commander. But I disagree with his actions in many ways. He made many unnecessary changes in sight of the enemy and thereby revealed his plan to him, was slow in his actions and did not show persistence in order to completely defeat the enemy. I had an incident similar to the situation during the Battle of Cannes. This was in August, on the N. River. We let up to two white regiments with artillery through the bridge to our bank, gave them the opportunity to stretch out along the road, and then opened hurricane artillery fire on the bridge and rushed into the attack from all sides. The stunned enemy did not have time to come to his senses before he was surrounded and almost completely destroyed. His remnants rushed to the destroyed bridge and were forced to rush into the river, where most of them drowned. 6 guns, 40 machine guns and 600 prisoners fell into our hands. We achieved these successes thanks to the swiftness and surprise of our attack.”

Chapaev was appointed commissioner of internal affairs of the Nikolaev district. From May 1919 - brigade commander of the Special Aleksandrovo-Gai Brigade, from June - 25th Infantry Division. The division acted against the main forces of the Whites and took part in repelling spring offensive armies of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, participated in the Buguruslan, Belebey and Ufa operations. These operations predetermined the crossing of the Ural ridge by the Red troops and the defeat of Kolchak’s army. In these operations, Chapaev's division acted on enemy messages and carried out detours. Maneuver tactics became a feature of Chapaev and his division. Even white commanders singled out Chapaev and noted his organizational skills. A major success was the crossing of the Belaya River, which led to the capture of Ufa on June 9, 1919 and the further retreat of the White troops. Then Chapaev, who was on the front line, was wounded in the head, but remained in the ranks. Was awarded for military distinction highest award Soviet Russia - the Order of the Red Banner, and his division was awarded the honorary revolutionary Red Banner.

Chapaev loved his fighters, and they paid him the same. His division was considered one of the best on the Eastern Front. In many ways, he was precisely the people's leader, at the same time possessing a real gift for leadership, enormous energy and initiative that infected those around him. Vasily Ivanovich was a commander who strived to constantly learn in practice, directly during battles, a simple and cunning man at the same time (this was the quality of a true representative of the people). Chapaev knew very well the combat area, located on the far-from-center right flank of the Eastern Front.

After the Ufa operation, Chapaev's division was again transferred to the front against the Ural Cossacks. It was necessary to operate in the steppe area, far from communications, with the superiority of the Cossacks in the cavalry. The struggle here was accompanied by mutual bitterness and uncompromising confrontation. Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev died on September 5, 1919 as a result of a deep raid by the Cossack detachment of Colonel N.N. Borodin, which culminated in an unexpected attack on the city of Lbischensk, located in the deep rear, where the headquarters of the 25th division was located. Chapaev's division, which broke away from the rear and suffered big losses, at the beginning of September I settled down on vacation in the Lbischensk area. Moreover, in Lbischensk itself the division headquarters, supply department, tribunal, revolutionary committee and other divisional institutions were located. The main forces of the division were removed from the city. The command of the White Ural Army decided to launch a raid on Lbischensk. On the evening of August 31, a selected detachment under the command of Colonel Nikolai Borodin left the village of Kalyonoy. On September 4, Borodin’s detachment secretly approached the city and hid in the reeds in the backwaters of the Urals. Air reconnaissance did not report this to Chapaev, although it could not have detected the enemy. It is believed that due to the fact that the pilots sympathized with the whites (after the defeat, they went over to the side of the whites).

At dawn on September 5, the Cossacks attacked Lbischensk. A few hours later the battle was over. Most of the Red Army soldiers were not ready for the attack, panicked, were surrounded and surrendered. It ended in a massacre, all the prisoners were killed - in batches of 100-200 people on the banks of the Urals. Not just most of was able to break through to the river. Among them was Vasily Chapaev, who gathered a small detachment and organized resistance. According to the testimony of the General Staff of Colonel M.I. Izergin: “Chapaev himself held out the longest with a small detachment, with whom he took refuge in one of the houses on the banks of the Urals, from where he had to survive with artillery fire.”

During the battle, Chapaev was seriously wounded in the stomach, he was transported to the other side on a raft. According to the story of Chapaev's eldest son, Alexander, two Hungarian Red Army soldiers put the wounded Chapaev on a raft made from half a gate and ferried across the Ural River. But on the other side it turned out that Chapaev died from loss of blood. The Red Army soldiers buried his body with their hands in the coastal sand and covered it with reeds so that the whites would not find the grave. This story was subsequently confirmed by one of the participants in the events, who in 1962 sent a letter from Hungary to Chapaev’s daughter with detailed description death of the red division commander. The white investigation also confirms these data. According to the words of captured Red Army soldiers, “Chapaev, leading a group of Red Army soldiers towards us, was wounded in the stomach. The wound turned out to be so severe that after that he could no longer lead the battle and was transported on planks across the Urals... he [Chapaev] was already on the Asian side of the river. Ural died from a wound in the stomach.” During this battle, the White commander, Colonel Nikolai Nikolaevich Borodin, also died (he was posthumously promoted to the rank of major general).

There are other versions of Chapaev’s fate. Thanks to Dmitry Furmanov, who served as commissar in Chapaev’s division and wrote the novel “Chapaev” about him and especially the film “Chapaev,” the version of the death of the wounded Chapaev in the waves of the Urals became popular. This version arose immediately after the death of Chapaev and was, in fact, the fruit of an assumption, based on the fact that Chapaev was seen on the European shore, but he did not swim to the Asian shore, and his body was not found. There is also a version that Chapaev was killed in captivity.

According to one version, Chapaev was eliminated as a disobedient people’s commander (in modern concepts, "field commander"). Chapaev had a conflict with L. Trotsky. According to this version, the pilots, who were supposed to inform the division commander about the approach of the Whites, were carrying out orders from the high command of the Red Army. The independence of the “red field commander” irritated Trotsky; he saw in Chapaev an anarchist who could disobey orders. Thus, it is possible that Trotsky “ordered” Chapaev. Whites acted as a tool, nothing more. During the battle, Chapaev was simply shot. Using a similar scheme, Trotsky eliminated other Red commanders who, not understanding international intrigues, fought for the common people. A week before Chapaev, the legendary divisional commander Nikolai Shchors was killed in Ukraine. And a few years later, in 1925, the famous Grigory Kotovsky was also shot dead under unclear circumstances. In the same 1925, Mikhail Frunze was killed on the surgical table, also by order of Trotsky’s team.

Chapaev lived a short life (died at 32), but bright life. As a result, the legend of the red division commander arose. The country needed a hero whose reputation was not tarnished. People watched this film dozens of times; all Soviet boys dreamed of repeating Chapaev’s feat. Subsequently, Chapaev entered folklore as the hero of many popular jokes. In this mythology, the image of Chapaev was distorted beyond recognition. In particular, according to anecdotes, he is such a cheerful, rollicking person, a drinker. In fact, Vasily Ivanovich did not drink alcohol at all; his favorite drink was tea. The orderly took the samovar with him everywhere. Having arrived at any location, Chapaev immediately started drinking tea and always invited the locals. Thus, his reputation as a very good-natured and hospitable person was established. One more thing. In the film, Chapaev is a dashing horseman, rushing towards the enemy with his saber drawn. In fact, Chapaev did not feel much love for horses. I preferred a car. The legend that has become widespread that Chapaev fought against the famous General V.O. Kappel is also untrue.

130 years ago, on February 9, 1887, the future hero of the Civil War, people's commander Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, was born. Vasily Chapaev fought heroically during the First World War, and during the Civil War he became a legendary figure, a self-taught man who rose to high command positions due to his own abilities in the absence of special military education. He became a real legend when not only official myths, but also artistic fiction firmly overshadowed the real historical figure.

Chapaev was born on January 28 (February 9), 1887 in the village of Budaika in Chuvashia. The Chapaevs' ancestors lived here for a long time. He was the sixth child in a poor Russian peasant family. The child was weak and premature, but his grandmother delivered him. His father, Ivan Stepanovich, was a carpenter by profession, had a small plot of land, but his bread was never enough, and therefore he worked as a cab driver in Cheboksary. Grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, was written as Gavrilov in the documents. And the surname Chapaev came from the nickname - “chapai, chapai, chain” (“take”).
In search of a better life, the Chapaev family moved to the village of Balakovo, Nikolaev district, Samara province. Since childhood, Vasily worked a lot, worked as a sex worker in a tea shop, as an assistant to an organ grinder, a merchant, and helped his father in carpentry. Ivan Stepanovich enrolled his son in a local parochial school, the patron of which was his wealthy cousin. There were already priests in the Chapaev family, and the parents wanted Vasily to become a clergyman, but life decreed otherwise. At church school, Vasily learned to write and read syllables. One day he was punished for a crime - Vasily was put in a cold winter punishment cell in only his underwear. Realizing an hour later that he was freezing, the child broke out a window and jumped from the height of the third floor, breaking his arms and legs. Thus ended Chapaev’s studies.

In the fall of 1908, Vasily was drafted into the army and sent to Kyiv. But already in the spring of the next year, apparently due to illness, Chapaev was transferred from the army to the reserve and transferred to first-class militia warriors. Before the First World War he worked as a carpenter. In 1909, Vasily Ivanovich married Pelageya Nikanorovna Metlina, the daughter of a priest. They lived together for 6 years and had three children. From 1912 to 1914, Chapaev and his family lived in the city of Melekess (now Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk region).

It is worth noting that Vasily Ivanovich’s family life did not work out. Pelageya, when Vasily went to the front, went with the children to a neighbor. At the beginning of 1917, Chapaev went to his native place and intended to divorce Pelageya, but was satisfied with taking the children from her and returning them to their parents’ house. Soon after this, he became friends with Pelageya Kamishkertseva, the widow of Pyotr Kamishkertsev, a friend of Chapaev, who died of a wound during the fighting in the Carpathians (Chapaev and Kamishkertsev promised each other that if one of the two was killed, the survivor would take care of his friend’s family). However, Kamishkertseva also cheated on Chapaeva. This circumstance was revealed shortly before Chapaev’s death and dealt him a strong moral blow. In the last year of his life, Chapaev also had an affair with the wife of Commissar Furmanov, Anna (there is an opinion that it was she who became the prototype of Anka the Machine Gunner), which led to an acute conflict with Furmanov. Furmanov wrote denunciations against Chapaev, but later admitted in his diaries that he was simply jealous of the legendary division commander.

At the beginning of the war, on September 20, 1914, Chapaev was called up for military service and sent to the 159th reserve infantry regiment in the city of Atkarsk. In January 1915, he went to the front as part of the 326th Belgorai Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Infantry Division from the 9th Army of the Southwestern Front. Was injured. In July 1915 he graduated from the training team, received the rank of junior non-commissioned officer, and in October - senior officer. Participated in the Brusilov breakthrough. He finished the war with the rank of sergeant major. He fought well, was wounded and shell-shocked several times, and for his bravery was awarded the St. George Medal and soldiers' St. George Crosses of three degrees. Thus, Chapaev was one of those soldiers and non-commissioned officers of the tsarist imperial army who went through the most severe school of the First World War and soon became the core of the Red Army.

Civil War

I met the February revolution in a hospital in Saratov. On September 28, 1917 he joined the RSDLP(b). He was elected commander of the 138th reserve infantry regiment stationed in Nikolaevsk. On December 18, the district congress of Soviets elected him military commissar of the Nikolaev district. Organized the district Red Guard of 14 detachments. He took part in the campaign against General Kaledin (near Tsaritsyn), then in the spring of 1918 in the campaign of the Special Army to Uralsk. On his initiative, on May 25, a decision was made to reorganize the Red Guard detachments into two Red Army regiments: named after Stepan Razin and named after Pugachev, united into the Pugachev brigade under the command of Vasily Chapaev. Later he participated in battles with the Czechoslovaks and the People's Army, from whom Nikolaevsk was recaptured, renamed Pugachev.

On September 19, 1918, he was appointed commander of the 2nd Nikolaev Division. In battles with the Whites, Cossacks and Czech interventionists, Chapaev showed himself to be a firm commander and an excellent tactician, skillfully assessing the situation and proposing the optimal solution, as well as a personally brave man who enjoyed the authority and love of the fighters. During this period, Chapaev repeatedly personally led troops into attack. According to the temporary commander of the 4th Soviet Army of the former General Staff, Major General A. A. Baltiysky, Chapaev’s “lack of general military education affects the technique of command and control and the lack of breadth to cover military affairs. Full of initiative, but uses it unbalancedly due to the lack of military education. However, Comrade Chapaev clearly identifies all the data on the basis of which, with appropriate military education, both technology and a justified military scope will undoubtedly appear. The desire to receive a military education in order to get out of the state of “military darkness”, and then again join the ranks of the battle front. You can be sure that Comrade Chapaev’s natural talents, combined with military education, will give bright results.”

In November 1918, Chapaev was sent to the newly created Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army in Moscow to improve his education. He stayed at the Academy until February 1919, then he left his studies without permission and returned to the front. “Studying at the academy is a good thing and very important, but it’s a shame and a pity that the White Guards are being beaten without us,” said the red commander. Chapaev noted about the accounting: “I haven’t read about Hannibal before, but I see that he was an experienced commander. But I disagree with his actions in many ways. He made many unnecessary changes in sight of the enemy and thereby revealed his plan to him, was slow in his actions and did not show persistence in order to completely defeat the enemy. I had an incident similar to the situation during the Battle of Cannes. This was in August, on the N. River. We let up to two white regiments with artillery through the bridge to our bank, gave them the opportunity to stretch out along the road, and then opened hurricane artillery fire on the bridge and rushed into the attack from all sides. The stunned enemy did not have time to come to his senses before he was surrounded and almost completely destroyed. His remnants rushed to the destroyed bridge and were forced to rush into the river, where most of them drowned. 6 guns, 40 machine guns and 600 prisoners fell into our hands. We achieved these successes thanks to the swiftness and surprise of our attack.”

Chapaev was appointed commissioner of internal affairs of the Nikolaev district. From May 1919 - brigade commander of the Special Aleksandrovo-Gai Brigade, from June - 25th Infantry Division. The division acted against the main forces of the Whites, participated in repelling the spring offensive of the armies of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, and participated in the Buguruslan, Belebey and Ufa operations. These operations predetermined the crossing of the Ural ridge by the Red troops and the defeat of Kolchak’s army. In these operations, Chapaev's division acted on enemy messages and carried out detours. Maneuver tactics became a feature of Chapaev and his division. Even white commanders singled out Chapaev and noted his organizational skills. A major success was the crossing of the Belaya River, which led to the capture of Ufa on June 9, 1919 and the further retreat of the White troops. Then Chapaev, who was on the front line, was wounded in the head, but remained in the ranks. For military distinctions he was awarded the highest award of Soviet Russia - the Order of the Red Banner, and his division was awarded the honorary revolutionary Red Banner.

The main forces of the division were removed from the city. The command of the White Ural Army decided to launch a raid on Lbischensk. On the evening of August 31, a selected detachment under the command of Colonel Nikolai Borodin left the village of Kalyonoy. On September 4, Borodin’s detachment secretly approached the city and hid in the reeds in the backwaters of the Urals. Air reconnaissance did not report this to Chapaev, although it could not have detected the enemy. It is believed that due to the fact that the pilots sympathized with the whites (after the defeat, they went over to the side of the whites).

At dawn on September 5, the Cossacks attacked Lbischensk. A few hours later the battle was over. Most of the Red Army soldiers were not ready for the attack, panicked, were surrounded and surrendered. It ended in a massacre, all the prisoners were killed - in batches of 100-200 people on the banks of the Urals. Only a small part was able to break through to the river. Among them was Vasily Chapaev, who gathered a small detachment and organized resistance. According to the testimony of the General Staff of Colonel M.I. Izergin: “Chapaev himself held out the longest with a small detachment, with whom he took refuge in one of the houses on the banks of the Urals, from where he had to survive with artillery fire.”

During the battle, Chapaev was seriously wounded in the stomach, he was transported to the other side on a raft. According to the story of Chapaev's eldest son, Alexander, two Hungarian Red Army soldiers put the wounded Chapaev on a raft made from half a gate and ferried across the Ural River. But on the other side it turned out that Chapaev died from loss of blood. The Red Army soldiers buried his body with their hands in the coastal sand and covered it with reeds so that the whites would not find the grave. This story was subsequently confirmed by one of the participants in the events, who in 1962 sent a letter from Hungary to Chapaev’s daughter with a detailed description of the death of the red division commander. The white investigation also confirms these data. According to the words of captured Red Army soldiers, “Chapaev, leading a group of Red Army soldiers towards us, was wounded in the stomach. The wound turned out to be so severe that after that he could no longer lead the battle and was transported on planks across the Urals... he [Chapaev] was already on the Asian side of the river. Ural died from a wound in the stomach.” During this battle, the White commander, Colonel Nikolai Nikolaevich Borodin, also died (he was posthumously promoted to the rank of major general).

According to one version, Chapaev was eliminated by his own people as a disobedient people’s commander (in modern terms, a “field commander”). Chapaev had a conflict with L. Trotsky. According to this version, the pilots, who were supposed to inform the division commander about the approach of the Whites, were carrying out orders from the high command of the Red Army. The independence of the “red field commander” irritated Trotsky; he saw in Chapaev an anarchist who could disobey orders. Thus, it is possible that Trotsky “ordered” Chapaev. Whites acted as a tool, nothing more. During the battle, Chapaev was simply shot. Using a similar scheme, Trotsky eliminated other Red commanders who, not understanding international intrigues, fought for the common people. A week before Chapaev, the legendary divisional commander Nikolai Shchors was killed in Ukraine. And a few years later, in 1925, the famous Grigory Kotovsky was also shot dead under unclear circumstances. In the same 1925, Mikhail Frunze was killed on the surgical table, also by order of Trotsky’s team.

Chapaev lived a short (died at 32 years old), but bright life. As a result, the legend of the red division commander arose. The country needed a hero whose reputation was not tarnished. People watched this film dozens of times; all Soviet boys dreamed of repeating Chapaev’s feat. Subsequently, Chapaev entered folklore as the hero of many popular jokes. In this mythology, the image of Chapaev was distorted beyond recognition. In particular, according to anecdotes, he is such a cheerful, rollicking person, a drinker. In fact, Vasily Ivanovich did not drink alcohol at all; his favorite drink was tea. The orderly took the samovar with him everywhere. Having arrived at any location, Chapaev immediately started drinking tea and always invited the locals. Thus, his reputation as a very good-natured and hospitable person was established. One more thing. In the film, Chapaev is a dashing horseman, rushing towards the enemy with his saber drawn. In fact, Chapaev did not feel much love for horses. I preferred a car. The legend that has become widespread that Chapaev fought against the famous General V.O. Kappel is also untrue.

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Where did Chapaev die and how did it happen? A clear answer to this question, Unfortunately no. Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is a legendary personality of the Civil War. The life of this person, starting from a young age, is filled with mysteries and secrets. Let's try to unravel them based on some historical facts.

The Mystery of Birth

The hero of our story lived only 32 years. But what kind! Where Chapaev died and where he was buried is an unsolved mystery. Why did it happen so? Eyewitnesses of those distant times differ in their testimony.

Ivanovich (1887-1919) - this is how the date of birth and death is presented legendary commander historical reference books.

It’s only a pity that history has preserved more reliable facts about the birth of this man than about his death.

So, Vasily was born on February 9, 1887 in the family of a poor peasant. The very birth of the boy was marked by the mark of death: the midwife who delivered the birth of the mother of a poor family, seeing the premature baby, prophesied his quick death.

The grandmother came out to the stunted and half-dead boy. Despite the disappointing forecasts, she believed that he would pull through. The baby was wrapped in a piece of cloth and warmed near the stove. Thanks to the efforts and prayers of his grandmother, the boy survived.

Childhood

Soon the Chapaev family is in search of better life moves from the village of Budaiki, in Chuvashia, to the village of Balakovo, Nikolaev province.

Things went a little better for the family: Vasily was even sent to study science at the parish educational institution. But the boy was not destined to receive complete education. In a little more than 2 years, he only learned to read and write. The training ended after one incident. The fact is that in parochial schools it was the practice to punish students for misconduct. Chapaev did not escape this fate either. In the cold winter, the boy was sent to a punishment cell with practically no clothes. The guy did not intend to die from the cold, so when it was no longer bearable to endure the cold, he jumped out of the window. The punishment cell was very high - the guy woke up with broken arms and legs. After this incident, Vasily did not go to school anymore. And since education was closed for the boy, his father took him to work, taught him carpentry, and they built buildings together.

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev, whose biography grew with new and incredible facts every year, was remembered by his contemporaries after another incident. It was like this: during work, when it was necessary to install a cross on the very top of a newly built church, showing courage and skill, Chapaev Jr. took on this task. However, the guy could not resist and fell from a great height. Everyone saw a true miracle in the fact that after the fall Vasily did not have even a small scratch.

In the service of the Fatherland

At the age of 21, Chapaev began military service, which lasted only a year. In 1909 he was fired.

According to the official version, the reason was the illness of a serviceman: Chapaev was diagnosed. The unofficial reason was much more serious - Vasily’s brother, Andrei, was executed for speaking out against the tsar. After this, Vasily Chapaev himself began to be considered “unreliable.”

Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich, historical portrait who emerges as the image of a person prone to bold and decisive actions, one day he decided to start a family. He got married.

Vasily's chosen one, Pelageya Metlina, was the daughter of a priest, so the elder Chapaev opposed these marriage ties. Despite the ban, the young people got married. Three children were born in this marriage, but the union broke up due to Pelageya’s betrayal.

In 1914, Chapaev was again called to serve. The First World War brought him awards: the St. George Medal and the 4th and 3rd degrees.

In addition to awards, soldier-Chapaev received the rank of senior non-commissioned officer. All achievements were gained by him during six months of service.

Chapaev and the Red Army

In July 1917, Vasily Chapaev, having recovered from his injury, joined an infantry regiment whose soldiers supported revolutionary views. Here, after active communication with the Bolsheviks, he joined the ranks of their party.

In December of the same year, the hero of our story becomes commissar of the Red Guard. He suppresses peasant uprisings and goes to study at the General Staff Academy.

For a smart commander, a new assignment will soon arrive - Chapaev is sent to Eastern front fight with Kolchak.

After the successful liberation of Ufa from enemy troops and participation in military operation during the release of Uralsk, the headquarters of the 25th division, commanded by Chapaev, was subjected to surprise attack White Guards. According to the official version, Vasily Chapaev died in 1919.

Where did Chapaev die?

There is an answer to this question. The tragic event occurred in Lbischensk, on But historians are still arguing about how the famous commander of the Red Guard died. There are many different legends about the death of Chapaev. A lot of “eyewitnesses” tell their truth. Still, researchers of Chapaev’s life are inclined to believe that he drowned while swimming across the Urals.

This version is based on an investigation conducted by Chapaev’s contemporaries shortly after his death.

The fact that the division commander’s grave does not exist and his remains were not found gave rise to new version that he was saved. When the Civil War ended, rumors began to circulate among the people about the rescue of Chapaev. It was rumored that he, having changed his last name, lived in the Arkhangelsk region. The first version is confirmed by a film that was released on Soviet screens in the 30s of the last century.

Film about Chapaev: myth or reality

In those years, the country needed new revolutionary heroes with an unblemished reputation. Chapaev's feat was exactly what Soviet propaganda felt necessary.

From the film we learn that the headquarters of the division commanded by Chapaev was taken by surprise by the enemies. The advantage was on the side of the White Guards. The Reds fired back, the battle was fierce. The only way to escape and survive was to cross the Urals.

While crossing the river, Chapaev was already wounded in the arm. The next enemy bullet killed him and he drowned. The river where Chapaev died became his burial place.

However, the film, which was admired by all Soviet citizens, caused indignation among Chapaev's descendants. His daughter Claudia, referring to the story of Commissar Baturin, claimed that his comrades took his father to the other side of the river on a raft.

To the question: “Where did Chapaev die?” Baturin answered: “On the bank of the river.” According to him, the body was buried in the coastal sand and disguised by reeds.

Already the great-granddaughter of the red commander initiated the search for her great-grandfather’s grave. However, these plans were not destined to come true. At the place where, according to legend, the grave should have been located, a river now flowed.

Whose testimony was used as the basis for the film script?

How Chapaev died and where, the cornet Belonozhkin told after the end of the war. From his words, it became known that it was he who fired a bullet at the sailing commander. A denunciation was written against the former cornet, he confirmed his version during interrogation, and it was the basis for the film.

Belonozhkin's fate is also shrouded in mystery. He was convicted twice and amnestied the same number of times. He lived to a very old age. He fought during World War II, lost his hearing due to shell shock, and died at the age of 96.

The fact that Chapaev’s “killer” lived to such an old age and died a natural death suggests that representatives of the Soviet government, who took his story as the basis for the film, did not themselves believe in this version.

Version of the old-timers of the village of Lbischenskaya

How Chapaev died, history is silent. We can draw conclusions by referring only to eyewitness accounts, conducting all kinds of investigations and examinations.

The version of the old-timers of the village of Lbischenskaya (now the village of Chapaevo) also has the right to life. The investigation was conducted by Academician A. Cherekaev, and he wrote down the history of the defeat of Chapaev’s division. According to eyewitnesses, the weather on the day of the tragedy was autumn-like cold. The Cossacks drove all the Red Guards to the banks of the Urals, where many soldiers actually threw themselves into the river and drowned.

The victims were due to the fact that the place where Chapaev died is considered enchanted. No one has ever managed to swim across the river there, despite the fact that local daredevils, in honor of the memory of the deceased commissioner, organize such swims every year on the day of his death.

What Cherekaev learned about Chapaev’s fate was that he was caught, and after interrogation, under guard, he was sent to Guryev to Ataman Tolstov. This is where Chapaev's trail ends.

Where is the truth?

The fact that Chapaev’s death is indeed shrouded in mystery is an absolute fact. And the answer to this question is for researchers life path the legendary division commander has yet to be recognized.

It is noteworthy that the newspapers did not report Chapaev’s death at all. Although then the death of such famous person was considered an event that was learned about from the newspapers.

They began to talk about Chapaev's death after the release of the famous film. All the eyewitnesses of his death spoke at almost the same time - after 1935, in other words, after the film was shown.

In the encyclopedia “Civil War and Military Intervention in the USSR” the place where Chapaev died is also not indicated. The official, generalized version is indicated - near Lbischensk.

Let's hope that with the power of new research, this story will one day become clearer.

Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is a famous military leader of the “red” troops, a participant in the First World War and the Civil War. He became famous for his heroism and charisma.

Chapaev's homeland is the village of Budaika, Kazan province. The future military leader was born into a family of simple peasants and was the sixth child. Chapaev was born in February 1887. The personality of Chapaev is one of the mysteries of the history of the Civil War. Even the origin of the surname is a topic worthy of a separate story. Chapaev himself signed himself “Chepaev”. One of the family legends became known thanks to the story of Vasily Chapaev’s brother, Mikhail. According to his story, Vasily Ivanovich’s grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, whose official name was “Gavrilov”, was the foreman of the artel and was engaged in loading logs. He supervises the loading process and often repeats the word “Take” or “Take.” This is how the nickname Chapai arose, which later turned into the surname Chapaev, which was borne by the descendants of Stepan Gavrilovich.

Researchers deduce the origin of the surname from the Turkic language. None of the versions has been proven, since there is no exact evidence.

When Vasily Ivanovich was a child, the family moved to the Samara province to the village of Balakovo, where the boy was sent to study at a parish school. It was planned that Chapaev would receive basic knowledge and will become a priest, like many of his ancestors, but this did not happen.

In 1908, Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was assigned to the reserves - the reasons for this are not clear. Thus, he became a militia warrior. There are two reasons for this event: the official version says that Chapaev had health problems, so he was unfit for military service, unofficial version– Chapaev was politically unreliable. After being transferred to the reserve, Chapaev became a carpenter - he remained in this job until the outbreak of the First World War.

Beginning of a military career

In September 1914, Chapaev was called to the front. Place of service - the city of Atkarsk, where Vasily Ivanovich served in the reserve infantry troops. A year later, Chapaev begins to actively participate in battles as part of the infantry on the Southwestern Front (Galicia, Volyn). Chapaev showed courage and courage, which was noted by the St. George Medal.

First world war Chapaev graduated with the rank of sergeant major. During the hostilities he was wounded, but this did not prevent him from distinguishing himself in battle and becoming a professional military man.

Chapaev met the beginning of the 1917 revolution in a Saratov hospital. He supported the ideas of the Bolsheviks and became a member of the RSDLP(b) party. In December 1917 he was appointed commissioner in the Nikolaev district.

Civil War years

At the first stage of the Civil War, Chapaev was involved in organizing the Red Guard in the district - he led 14 detachments. Chapaev's first target during the fighting was Kaledin's troops; in the spring he led the campaign against Uralsk.

In the spring of 1918, by decision of Chapaev, the Red Guard was reorganized into 2 regiments. The command was exercised by Chapaev. 2 regiments became known as the Pugachev brigade. Under this name, the regiments took part in the battles with the Czechoslovaks. Under the leadership of Chapaev, the city of Nikolaevsk was recaptured and renamed Pugachev. At the second stage of the Civil War, Chapaev was the commander of the 2nd Nikolaev Division, and later, until 1919, he worked at the Academy of the General Staff. After this, he was appointed Commissioner of Internal Affairs in Nikolaevsky District.

After commanding positions, Chapaev continued career. From the spring of 1919 he commanded a rifle division. At this stage, Chapaev’s troops took part in battles against Kolchak’s “white” troops. In the summer of the same year, Uralsk and Ufa were captured. The capture of Ufa could have been fatal for Chapaev - he was seriously wounded by a machine gun.

Death of Chapaev

The death of Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev is one of the mysteries of the history of the Civil War. During one of the raids, Colonel N. Borodin, the commander of the Cossack detachments, managed to take the headquarters of the 25th division in the city of Lbischensk by surprise. Chapaev died in the battle, but the circumstances of the commander’s death are not fully clarified.

Before the start of Borodin’s raid, the defense of Lbischensk was organized by the division school - it was a small force, but practically the only one, since the division itself was located 50-70 km from the city.

The reconnaissance pilots did not report that Borodin's troops were approaching the city. According to sources, after the battle the pilots went over to the “white” side. The attack on the city caused panic - the defense was not organized - most of the “Reds” were killed or captured. A small group of people broke through to the Ural River - they were shot right on the shore. Was captured military equipment"red".

Chapaev himself tried to organize resistance to the attackers, but was seriously wounded. The “Reds” decided to take him across the river and save him, but the brigade commander died from his wound. The Hungarians buried him in the reeds on the shore so that his enemies would not find his body. At the present moment it is difficult to confirm or refute this - the place where, according to information, Chapaev was buried is located at the depth of the river, since it changed its course.

A more common version of the death is that Chapaev was wounded while swimming across the Urals and drowned.

Many modern historians insist that Chapaev was captured and died there. According to another version, he did not die in captivity - Chapaev survived and lived on the territory of Kazakhstan until the 60s inclusive. It is believed that he swam across the river, was ill for a long time, and then lost his memory.

Each era gives birth to its heroes. The 20th century in the history of our country is a lot of social upheavals - several revolutions and wars. One of them was a civil war, in which different worldviews of different social strata collided. Among the heroes who defended the interests of the young Soviet Republic, there is a truly unique personality - Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev.

By today's standards, he was a young man, because at the time of his death he was only 32 years old. Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev was born on January 28, 1887 in the Chuvash village of Budaika, which was located in the Cheboksary district of the Kazan province. In the Russian family of peasant Ivan Chapaev, he was the sixth child. He was born ahead of schedule and was very weak. Therefore, the parents could hardly imagine what a heroic fate awaited their tiny Vasenka.

The large family was very poor and, in search of a better life and earnings, moved to relatives in the Samara province and settled in the village of Balakovo. Here Vasily went to a parish school in the hope that he could become a priest. But this did not happen. But he married the priest’s young daughter, Pelageya Metlina. Soon he was drafted into the army. After serving for a year, Vasily Chapaev was discharged due to health reasons.

Returning to his family, he began working as a carpenter until the disaster struck in 1914. By this time, the family of Vasily and Pelageya already had three children. In January, Vasily Chapaev goes to the front and proves himself a skillful and brave warrior. For his bravery and courage he was awarded three St. George Crosses and the St. George Medal. Sergeant Major Vasily Chapaev graduated from the First World War as a full Knight of St. George.

In the fall of 1917, he chose the side of the Bolsheviks and proved to be an excellent organizer. IN Saratov province he creates 14 Red Guard units, which take part in battles against General Kaledin. In May 1918, the Pugachev brigade was formed from these detachments, and Chapaev was appointed to command it. This brigade, under the control of a self-taught commander, recaptures the city of Nikolaevsk from the Czechoslovaks.

The popularity and glory of the young red commander grew literally before our eyes, and at the same time Chapaev barely knew how to read and was completely unable, or did not want, to obey orders. The actions of the 2nd Nikolaev Division, led by Chapaev, instilled fear in the enemies, but often smacked of partisanship. Therefore, the command decided to send him to study at the newly opened Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army. But the young commander could not sit at the training table for long and returned to the front.

In the summer of 1919, under his command, the 25th Rifle Division carried out successful operations against Kolchak's White Guards. At the beginning of June, Chapaev's division liberated Ufa, and a month later the city of Uralsk. The professional military men who led the White Guard troops paid tribute to the leadership talents of the young Red Guard commander. Not only his comrades, but also his opponents saw him as a real military genius.

Chapaev was prevented from truly revealing the talent of the commander by his early death, which was led to by a tragedy caused by a military mistake, the only one in military career Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. This happened on September 5, 1919. Chapaev's division advanced and broke away from the main forces. Having stopped for a night's rest, the division headquarters settled down separately from the division units. White Guards under the command of General Borodin, numbering up to 2,000 bayonets, attacked the headquarters of the Chapaevsky division.

Wounded in the head and stomach, the division commander was able to organize the Red Guards, who were retreating in disarray, for defense. But completely disproportionate forces forced us to retreat. The soldiers transported the wounded commander across the Ural River on a raft, but he died from his wounds. Chapaev was buried in the coastal sand so that his enemies would not violate his body. Subsequently, the burial place could not be found.

The Chapaev division continued to successfully crush enemies even after the death of its commander. For many it will be a discovery that the later famous Czech writer Jaroslav Hasek, the famous partisan commander Sidor Kovpak, Major General Ivan Panfilov, whose fighters glorified themselves in defense, fought in the ranks of the Chapaevsky division.