Simonov, Sergei

Simonov, Sergei Gavrilovich 

Born Sept. 22 (Oct. 4), 1894, in Fedotovo, in what is now Vladimir Oblast. Soviet designer of small arms. Hero of Socialist Labor (1954); Honored Inventor of the RSFSR (1964). Member of the CPSU since 1927.

Simonov worked as a fitter in various factories beginning in 1910. He became a foreman in 1922, and later a senior foreman. In 1929 he became director of an assembly shop, later assuming positions as designer and as head of an experimental shop. Simonov’s activities as an inventor began in 1922–23 with the development of a hand machine gun and an automatic rifle. The Simonov rifle was demonstrated in 1926 and adopted by the Red Army in 1936. In 1941, Simonov developed a 14.5-mm semiautomatic antitank rifle, which was used in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45. In 1945 the Soviet Army adopted a semiautomatic carbine designed by Simonov.

Simonov was awarded the State Prize of the USSR in 1942 and 1949 for the development of his antitank rifle and semiautomatic carbine. He has also been awarded two Orders of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, four other orders, and various medals.

REFERENCE

Bolotin, D. N. Sovetskoe slrelkovoe oruzhie za 50 let. Leningrad, 1967.