Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. Hero of the civil war and Soviet mythology. He was a terror for the white generals and a headache for the red commanders. Self-taught commander. The hero of numerous jokes that have nothing to do with real life, and cult film, on which more than one generation of boys grew up.
Biography and activities of Vasily Chapaev
He was born on February 9, 1887 in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province, into a large peasant family. Of the nine children, four died at an early age. Two more died as adults. Of their three remaining brothers, Vasily was middle-aged and studied at a parochial school. His cousin was in charge of the parish.
Vasily had a wonderful voice. He was destined for a career as a singer or priest. However, the violent temper resisted. The boy ran home. Nevertheless, religiosity remained in him, and it was then surprisingly combined with the position of a red commander, who, it seems, was obliged to be an ardent atheist.
His formation as a military man began in the years. He went from private to sergeant major. Chapaev was awarded three St. George's crosses and one St. George medal. In 1917, Chapaev joined the Bolshevik Party. In October of the same year, he was appointed commander of the Nikolaev Red Guard detachment.
Without a professional military education, Chapaev quickly rose to the forefront of a new generation of military leaders. His natural intelligence, intelligence, cunning, and organizational talent helped him in this. The mere presence of Chapaev at the front contributed to the fact that the White Guards began to pull additional units to the front. They either loved him or hated him.
Chapaev on a horse or with a saber, on a cart is a stable image of Soviet mythology. In fact, due to his serious injury, he simply physically could not move on horseback. He rode a motorcycle or a carriage. He repeatedly made requests to the leadership to allocate several vehicles for the needs of the entire army. Chapaev often had to act at his own peril and risk, over the head of the command. Often the Chapaevites did not receive reinforcements and provisions, were surrounded and broke out of it with bloody battles.
Chapaev was sent to take a crash course at the General Staff Academy. From there, he rushed back to the front with all his might, not seeing any benefit for himself in the subjects taught. After staying at the Academy for only 2-3 months, Vasily Ivanovich returned to the Fourth Army. He receives an appointment to the Alexander-Gaev group on the Eastern Front. Frunze favored him. Chapaev is determined to be the commander of the 25th division, with which he traveled the remaining roads of the civil war until his death in September 1919.
The recognized and almost the only biographer of Chapaev is the writer D. Furmanov, sent to the Chapaev division by the commissar. It was from Furmanov’s novel that Soviet schoolchildren learned both about Chapaev himself and about his role in the civil war. However, the main creator of Chapaev’s legend was still Stalin personally, who gave the order to shoot the now famous film.
In fact, the personal relationship between Chapaev and Furmanov did not work out initially. Chapaev was dissatisfied that the commissar brought his wife with him, and, perhaps, also had certain feelings for her. Furmanov's complaint to army headquarters about Chapaev's tyranny remained without progress - the headquarters supported Chapaev. The Commissioner received another appointment.
Chapaev’s personal life is a different story. Pelageya's first wife left him with three children and ran away with her conductor lover. The second was also called Pelageya, she was the widow of Chapaev’s late friend. She subsequently also left Chapaev. Chapaev died in the battles for the village of Lbischenskaya. The White Guards failed to take him alive. He was transported to the other side of the Urals already dead. He was buried in coastal sand.
- The surname of the legendary division commander was written in the first syllable through the letter “e” - “Chepaev” and was later transformed into “a”.
130 years ago, on January 28 (February 9, new style), 1887, a hero of the Civil War was born. No, probably in national history a more unique person than Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. His real life It was short - he died at the age of 32, but his posthumous fame surpassed all conceivable and inconceivable boundaries.
Among the real historical figures of the past, you cannot find another one who would become an integral part of Russian folklore. What can we talk about if one of the varieties of checkers games is called “Chapaevka”.
Chapai's childhood
When on January 28 (February 9), 1887, in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province, in the family of a Russian peasant Ivan Chapaeva the sixth child was born, neither mother nor father could even think about the glory that awaited their son.
Rather, they were thinking about the upcoming funeral - the baby, named Vasenka, was born at seven months old, was very weak and, it seemed, could not survive.
However, the will to live turned out to be stronger than death- the boy survived and began to grow up to the delight of his parents.
Vasya Chapaev did not even think about any military career - in poor Budaika there was a problem of everyday survival, there was no time for heavenly pretzels.
The origin of the family surname is interesting. Chapaev's grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, was engaged in unloading timber rafted along the Volga and other heavy cargo at the Cheboksary pier. And he often shouted “chap”, “chap”, “chap”, that is, “catch” or “catch”. Over time, the word “chepai” stuck with him as a street nickname, and then became his official surname.
It is curious that the Red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name exactly as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”.
The poverty of the Chapaev family drove them in search of a better life to the Samara province, to the village of Balakovo. Here Father Vasily had a cousin who lived as a patron of the parish school. The boy was assigned to study, hoping that over time he would become a priest.
War gives birth to heroes
In 1908, Vasily Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was discharged due to illness. Even before joining the army, Vasily started a family, marrying the 16-year-old daughter of a priest Pelageya Metlina. Returning from the army, Chapaev began to engage in purely peaceful carpentry. In 1912, while continuing to work as a carpenter, Vasily and his family moved to Melekess. Until 1914, three children were born into the family of Pelageya and Vasily - two sons and a daughter.
Vasily Chapaev with his wife. 1915 Photo: RIA News
The whole life of Chapaev and his family was turned upside down by the First World War. Called up in September 1914, Vasily went to the front in January 1915. He fought in Volhynia in Galicia and proved himself to be a skilled warrior. Chapaev ended the First World War with the rank of sergeant major, being awarded the soldier's St. George Cross of three degrees and the St. George Medal.
In the fall of 1917, the brave soldier Chapaev joined the Bolsheviks and unexpectedly showed himself to be a brilliant organizer. In the Nikolaev district of the Saratov province, he created 14 detachments of the Red Guard, which took part in the campaign against the troops of General Kaledin. On the basis of these detachments, the Pugachev brigade was created in May 1918 under the command of Chapaev. Together with this brigade, the self-taught commander recaptured the city of Nikolaevsk from the Czechoslovaks.
The fame and popularity of the young commander grew before our eyes. In September 1918, Chapaev led the 2nd Nikolaev Division, which instilled fear in the enemy. Nevertheless, Chapaev’s tough temperament and his inability to obey unquestioningly led to the fact that the command considered it best to send him from the front to study at the General Staff Academy.
Already in the 1970s, another legendary Red commander Semyon Budyonny, listening to jokes about Chapaev, shook his head: “I told Vaska: study, fool, otherwise they will laugh at you! Well, I didn’t listen!”
The Ural, the Ural River, its grave is deep...
Chapaev really did not stay long at the academy, once again going to the front. In the summer of 1919, he headed the 25th Infantry Division, which quickly became legendary, as part of which he carried out brilliant operations against the troops Kolchak. On June 9, 1919, the Chapaevites liberated Ufa, and Uralsk on July 11.
During the summer of 1919, Divisional Commander Chapaev managed to surprise the career white generals with his leadership talent. Both comrades and enemies saw in him a real military nugget. Alas, Chapaev did not have time to truly open up.
The tragedy, which is called Chapaev’s only military mistake, occurred on September 5, 1919. Chapaev's division was rapidly advancing, breaking away from the rear. Units of the division stopped to rest, and the headquarters was located in the village of Lbischensk.
On September 5, the Whites numbered up to 2,000 bayonets under the command of General Borodin, having carried out a raid, they suddenly attacked the headquarters of the 25th division. The main forces of the Chapaevites were 40 km from Lbischensk and could not come to the rescue.
The real forces that could resist the Whites were 600 bayonets, and they entered into a battle that lasted six hours. He was hunting for Chapaev himself special squad, which, however, did not succeed. Vasily Ivanovich managed to get out of the house where he was quartered, gather about a hundred fighters who were retreating in disarray, and organize a defense.
Vasily Chapaev (in the center, sitting) with military commanders. 1918 Photo: RIA Novosti
About the circumstances of Chapaev's death for a long time there was conflicting information until in 1962 the daughter of a division commander Claudia did not receive a letter from Hungary, in which two Chapaev veterans, Hungarian by nationality, who were personally present at last minutes life of the division commander, told what really happened.
During the battle with the Whites, Chapaev was wounded in the head and stomach, after which four Red Army soldiers, having built a raft from boards, managed to transport the commander to the other side of the Urals. However, Chapaev died from his wounds during the crossing.
The Red Army soldiers, fearing that their enemies would mock his body, buried Chapaev in the coastal sand, throwing branches over the place.
There were no active searches for the division commander’s grave immediately after the Civil War, because the version set forth by the commissar of the 25th division became canonical Dmitry Furmanov in his book “Chapaev” it is as if the wounded division commander drowned while trying to swim across the river.
In the 1960s, Chapaev’s daughter tried to search for her father’s grave, but it turned out that this was impossible - the course of the Urals changed its course, and the river bottom became the final resting place of the red hero.
Birth of a legend
Not everyone believed in Chapaev’s death. Historians who studied the biography of Chapaev noted that there was a story among Chapaev veterans that their Chapai swam out, was rescued by the Kazakhs, suffered from typhoid fever, lost his memory and now works as a carpenter in Kazakhstan, remembering nothing about his heroic past.
Fans of the white movement like to attach importance to the Lbishchensky raid great importance, calling it a major victory, but it is not. Even the destruction of the headquarters of the 25th division and the death of its commander did not affect the general course of the war - the Chapaev division continued to successfully destroy enemy units.
Not everyone knows that the Chapaevites avenged their commander on the same day, September 5th. The general who commanded the white raid Borodin, triumphantly driving through Lbischensk after the defeat of Chapaev’s headquarters, was shot by a Red Army soldier Volkov.
Historians still cannot agree on what Chapaev’s role as a commander actually was in Civil War. Some believe that he actually played a significant role, others believe that his image has been exaggerated by art.
Painting by P. Vasiliev “V. I. Chapaev in battle." Photo: reproduction
Indeed, the book written by the former commissar of the 25th division brought Chapaev wide popularity Dmitry Furmanov.
During their lifetime, the relationship between Chapaev and Furmanov could not be called simple, which, by the way, is best reflected later in anecdotes. Chapaev's affair with Furmanov's wife Anna Steshenko led to the fact that the commissioner had to leave the division. However, Furmanov's writing talent smoothed out personal contradictions.
But the real, boundless glory of Chapaev, Furmanov, and others now folk heroes overtook in 1934, when the Vasiliev brothers made the film “Chapaev,” which was based on Furmanov’s book and the memories of the Chapaevites.
Furmanov himself was no longer alive by that time - he died suddenly in 1926 from meningitis. And the author of the film’s script was Anna Furmanova, the commissar’s wife and the division commander’s mistress.
It is to her that we owe the appearance of Anka the Machine Gunner in the history of Chapaev. The fact is that in reality there was no such character. Its prototype was the nurse of the 25th division Maria Popova. In one of the battles, a nurse crawled up to a wounded elderly machine gunner and wanted to bandage him, but the soldier, heated by the battle, pointed a revolver at the nurse and literally forced Maria to take a place behind the machine gun.
The directors, having learned about this story and having an assignment from Stalin to show the image of a woman in the Civil War in the film, they came up with a machine gunner. But she insisted that her name would be Anka Anna Furmanova.
After the release of the film, Chapaev, Furmanov, Anka the machine gunner, and orderly Petka (in real life - Peter Isaev, who actually died in the same battle with Chapaev) went into the people forever, becoming an integral part of it.
Chapaev is everywhere
The life of Chapaev’s children turned out interesting. The marriage of Vasily and Pelageya actually broke up with the beginning of the First World War, and in 1917 Chapaev took the children from his wife and raised them himself, as far as the life of a military man allowed.
Chapaev's eldest son, Alexander Vasilievich, followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a professional military man. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, 30-year-old Captain Chapaev was the commander of a battery of cadets at the Podolsk Artillery School. From there he went to the front. Chapaev fought like a family, honor famous father without disgrace. He fought near Moscow, near Rzhev, near Voronezh, and was wounded. In 1943, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Alexander Chapaev took part in the famous battle of Prokhorovka.
Completed military service Alexander Chapaev with the rank of major general, holding the position of deputy chief of artillery of the Moscow Military District.
Children of V.I. Chapaev: Alexander, Arkady and Claudia
Younger son, Arkady Chapaev, became a test pilot, worked with himself Valery Chkalov. In 1939, 25-year-old Arkady Chapaev died while testing a new fighter.
Chapaev's daughter Claudia, made a party career and was engaged historical research dedicated to my father. True story Chapaev's life became known largely thanks to her.
Studying the life of Chapaev, you are surprised to discover how closely the legendary hero is connected with other historical figures.
For example, a fighter in the Chapaev division was writer Jaroslav Hasek- author of “The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik.”
The head of the trophy team of the Chapaev division was Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak. During the Great Patriotic War, one name of this partisan commander would terrify the Nazis.
Major General Ivan Panfilov, whose division's resilience helped defend Moscow in 1941, began its military career as a platoon commander of an infantry company of the Chapaev division.
And one last thing. Water is fatally connected not only with the fate of division commander Chapaev, but also with the fate of the division.
The 25th Rifle Division existed in the ranks of the Red Army until the Great Patriotic War, took part in the defense of Sevastopol. It was the fighters of the 25th Chapaev Division who stood to the last in the most tragic, last days city defense. The division was completely destroyed, and so that its banners would not fall to the enemy, the last surviving soldiers drowned them in the Black Sea.
Academy Student
Chapaev's education, contrary to popular opinion, was not limited to two years of parish school. In 1918 he was enrolled in military academy The Red Army, where many soldiers were “herded” to improve their general literacy and learn strategy. According to the recollections of his classmate, peaceful student life weighed on Chapaev: “The hell with it! I'll leave! To come up with such an absurdity - fighting people at their desks! Two months later, he submitted a report asking to be released from this “prison” to the front. Several stories have been preserved about Vasily Ivanovich’s stay at the academy. The first says that during a geography exam, in response to an old general’s question about the significance of the Neman River, Chapaev asked the professor if he knew about the significance of the Solyanka River, where he fought with the Cossacks. According to the second, in a discussion of the Battle of Cannes, he called the Romans “blind kittens,” telling the teacher, the prominent military theorist Sechenov: “We have already shown generals like you how to fight!”
Motorist
We all imagine Chapaev as a courageous fighter with a fluffy mustache, a naked sword and galloping on a dashing horse. Created this image folk actor Boris Babochkin. In life, Vasily Ivanovich preferred cars to horses. Back on the fronts of the First World War, he was seriously wounded in the thigh, so riding became a problem. So Chapaev became one of the first Red commanders to use a car. He chose his iron horses very meticulously. The first, the American Stever, was rejected due to strong shaking; the red Packard that replaced it also had to be abandoned - it was not suitable for military operations in the steppe. But the red commander liked the Ford, which pushed 70 miles off-road. Chapaev also selected the best drivers. One of them, Nikolai Ivanov, was practically taken by force to Moscow and made the personal driver of Lenin’s sister, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova.
PySy: an interesting addition from urator
"...It is curious that the Red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name exactly as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”
I wonder how he should have written his last name if he was Chepaev? Chapaev was made by Furmanov and the Vasilyev brothers. Before the release of the film on the screens of the country, on the monument to the division commander in Samara it was written - Chepaev, the street was called Chepaevskaya, the city of Trotsk - Chepaevsk, and even the Mocha River was renamed Chepaevka. In order not to bring confusion into the minds of Soviet citizens, in all these toponyms “CHE” was changed to “CHA”
And photos:
photo of Arkady Vasilievich Chapaev with his nephew Arthur.
We remember Chapaev from books and films, we tell jokes about him. But the real life of the red division commander was no less interesting. He loved cars and argued with the teachers at the military academy. And Chapaev is not his real name.
Hard childhood
Vasily Ivanovich was born into a poor peasant family. The only wealth of his parents was their nine eternally hungry children, of whom the future hero of the Civil War was the sixth.
As the legend goes, he was born premature and warmed up in his father’s fur mitten on the stove. His parents sent him to seminary in the hope that he would become a priest. But when one day the guilty Vasya was put in a wooden punishment cell in only his shirt in the bitter cold, he ran away. He tried to become a merchant, but he couldn’t - the main trade commandment was too disgusting to him: “If you don’t deceive, you won’t sell, if you don’t weigh, you won’t make money.” “My childhood was dark and difficult. I had to humiliate myself and starve a lot. From an early age I hung around strangers,” the division commander later recalled.
"Chapaev"
It is believed that Vasily Ivanovich’s family bore the surname Gavrilovs. “Chapaev” or “Chepai” was the nickname given to the division commander’s grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich. Either in 1882 or 1883, he and his comrades loaded logs, and Stepan, as the eldest, constantly commanded - “Chepai, chapai!”, which meant: “take, take.” So it stuck to him - Chepai, and the nickname later turned into a surname.
They say that the original "Chepai" became "Chapaev" with light hand Dmitry Furmanov, author famous novel, who decided that “it sounds better this way.” But in surviving documents from the time of the Civil War, Vasily appears under both options.
Perhaps the name “Chapaev” appeared as a result of a typo.
Academy Student
Chapaev's education, contrary to popular opinion, was not limited to two years of parish school. In 1918, he was enrolled in the military academy of the Red Army, where many soldiers were “herded” to improve their general literacy and learn strategy. According to the recollections of his classmate, the peaceful student life weighed on Chapaev: “The hell with it! I'll leave! To come up with such an absurdity - fighting people at their desks! Two months later, he submitted a report asking to be released from this “prison” to the front.
Several stories have been preserved about Vasily Ivanovich’s stay at the academy. The first says that during a geography exam, in response to an old general’s question about the significance of the Neman River, Chapaev asked the professor if he knew about the significance of the Solyanka River, where he fought with the Cossacks. According to the second, in a discussion of the Battle of Cannes, he called the Romans “blind kittens,” telling the teacher, the prominent military theorist Sechenov: “We have already shown generals like you how to fight!”
Motorist
We all imagine Chapaev as a courageous fighter with a fluffy mustache, a naked sword and galloping on a dashing horse. This image was created by the national actor Boris Babochkin. In life, Vasily Ivanovich preferred cars to horses.
Back on the fronts of the First World War, he was seriously wounded in the thigh, so riding became a problem. So Chapaev became one of the first Red commanders to use a car.
He chose his iron horses very meticulously. The first, the American Stever, was rejected due to strong shaking; the red Packard that replaced it also had to be abandoned - it was not suitable for military operations in the steppe. But the red commander liked the Ford, which pushed 70 miles off-road. Chapaev also selected the best drivers. One of them, Nikolai Ivanov, was practically taken by force to Moscow and made the personal driver of Lenin’s sister, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova.
Women's cunning
The famous commander Chapaev was an eternal loser on the personal front. His first wife, the bourgeois Pelageya Metlina, whom Chapaev’s parents did not approve of, calling him a “city white-handed woman,” bore him three children, but did not wait for her husband from the front - she went to a neighbor. Vasily Ivanovich was very upset by her action - he loved his wife. Chapaev often repeated to his daughter Claudia: “Oh, how beautiful you are. She looks like her mother."
Chapaev’s second companion, although already a civilian, was also named Pelageya. She was the widow of Vasily’s comrade-in-arms, Pyotr Kamishkertsev, to whom the division commander promised to take care of his family. At first he sent her benefits, then they decided to move in together. But history repeated itself - during her husband’s absence, Pelageya began an affair with a certain Georgy Zhivolozhinov. One day Chapaev found them together and almost sent the unlucky lover to the next world.
When the passions subsided, Kamishkertseva decided to go to war, took the children and went to her husband’s headquarters. The children were allowed to see their father, but she was not. They say that after this she took revenge on Chapaev by revealing to the whites the location of the Red Army troops and data on their numbers.
fatal water
The death of Vasily Ivanovich is shrouded in mystery. On September 4, 1919, Borodin’s troops approached the city of Lbischensk, where the headquarters of Chapaev’s division with a small number of fighters was located. During the defense, Chapaev was severely wounded in the stomach; his soldiers put the commander on a raft and transported him across the Urals, but he died from loss of blood. The body was buried in the coastal sand, and the traces were hidden so that the Cossacks would not find it. Searching for the grave subsequently became useless, as the river changed its course. This story was confirmed by a participant in the events. According to another version, Chapaev drowned after being wounded in the arm, unable to cope with the current.
“Or maybe he swam out?”
Neither Chapaev's body nor grave could be found. This gave rise to a completely logical version of the surviving hero. Someone said that due to a severe wound he lost his memory and lived somewhere under a different name.
Some claimed that he was safely transported to the other side, from where he went to Frunze, to be responsible for the surrendered city. In Samara he was put under arrest, and then they decided to officially “kill the hero,” ending his military career with a beautiful end.
This story was told by a certain Onyanov from the Tomsk region, who allegedly met his aged commander many years later. The story looks dubious, since in the difficult conditions of the civil war it was inappropriate to “throw away” experienced military leaders, who were highly respected by the soldiers.
Most likely, this is a myth generated by the hope that the hero was saved.
Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich (born January 28 (February 9), 1887 - September 5, 1919) - Soviet military leader, a prominent participant in the Civil War. Since 1918, he was the commander of a detachment, brigade and the 25th Infantry Division, which played an important role in the defeat of the troops in the summer of 1919. In the city of Lbischensk, he was taken by surprise by the Ural Cossacks, during the battle he was wounded and drowned while trying to swim across the Urals.
Origin. early years
Vasily is from a Chuvash peasant family with nine children. Chapaev's grandfather was a serf. Father is a carpenter. Vasily spent his childhood in the town of Balakovo, Samara province. He attended parochial school (1898-1901); due to the difficult financial situation in the family, Chapaev dropped out of school and went to work. Vasily worked from the age of 12 for a merchant, then as a sex worker in a tea shop, as an organ grinder's assistant, and helped his father in carpentry. 1908 - was drafted into the army.
World War I
After military service, Chapaev returned home. At that time, he had already gotten married, and when World War I began, he already had three children in his family. During the First World War, he served in the 326th Belgorai Infantry Regiment. Was injured. 1916 - promoted to sergeant major. Vasily Ivanovich took part in the famous, was shell-shocked, several wounds, for military work and personal courage he was awarded three St. George Crosses and the St. George Medal.
October Revolution and Civil War (briefly)
1917, September - member of the CPSU. 1917 - was in a hospital in Saratov, then moved to Nikolaevsk, where in December 1917 he was appointed commander of the 138th reserve infantry regiment, and in January 1918 he was appointed commissar of internal affairs of the Nikolaev district.
Beginning of 1918 - Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev formed a Red Guard detachment and was engaged in suppressing kulak-Socialist Revolutionary uprisings in Nikolaevsky district. 1918, May - commanded a brigade in combat operations against the Ural White Cossacks and White Czechs. 1918, September - head of the 2nd Nikolaev Division.
1918, November - Vasily Ivanovich is sent to study at the General Staff Academy, where he was until January 1919. Then, at his personal request, he was sent to the front and appointed to the 4th Army as commander of the Special Alexandrovo-Gai Brigade.
1919, April - commander of the 25th Infantry Division, which distinguished itself in the Buguruslan, Belebeevsk and Ufa operations during the counter-offensive of the Eastern Front against Kolchak's troops.
1919, July 11 - the 25th division under the command of the legendary military leader liberated Uralsk.
Death of Chapaev
Chapaev Vasily Ivanovich died during a surprise attack by the White Guards on the headquarters of the 25th division. This happened on September 5, 1919 in the city of Lbischensk, West Kazakhstan region, which was in the rear and was well guarded. It seemed to the Chapaevites that nothing could threaten them there.
Chapaev's division was separated from the main forces of the Red Army and suffered heavy losses. In addition to 2 thousand Chapaevites, there were almost as many mobilized peasants in the city, but they did not have any weapons. The commander could count on 600 bayonets. The main forces of the division were located 40–70 km from the city.
All these facts led to the fact that the unexpected attack of the Cossack detachment in the early morning of September 5 turned out to be disastrous for the Chapaevites. Most of the famous division was shot or captured. Only a few Red Guards managed to make their way to the bank of the Ural River, including Chapaev, who was fatally wounded in the stomach.
Vasily Ivanovich was hastily buried in the coastal sand, covered with reeds so that the Cossacks could not find the grave and violate the body. Such information was subsequently confirmed by other participants in the events. However, the legend embodied in books and films that the division commander dies in the stormy waves of the Ural River turned out to be more tenacious.
Description of contemporaries
Fyodor Novitsky, chief of staff of the 4th Army, described Vasily Ivanovich as follows: “A man of about 30, of average height, thin, clean-shaven, and neatly combed, slowly and very respectfully entered the office. The division commander was dressed not only neatly, but also elegantly: a beautifully tailored overcoat made of good quality material, a gray sheepskin hat with a gold braid on top, and smart reindeer burka boots with fur on the outside. He wore a Caucasian-style saber, with rich silver trim, and a Mauser pistol neatly fitted to his side.
Personal life
The legendary division commander was an eternal loser on the personal front. His first wife, the bourgeois Pelageya Metlina, whom Vasily Ivanovich’s parents did not like, calling him “a city white-handed woman,” bore him three children, but did not wait for her husband from the front - she went to a neighbor. Chapaev took this betrayal seriously - he loved his wife. Chapaev often repeated to his daughter Claudia: “Oh, how beautiful you are. She looks like her mother."
The second companion of the division commander, although already a civilian, was also called Pelageya. She was the widow of his comrade in arms, Pyotr Kamishkertsev, to whom Vasily promised to take care of his family. At first he sent her benefits, then they decided to move in together. However, history repeated itself - during the absence of her husband, Pelageya began an affair with a certain Georgy Zhivolozhinov. Once Chapaev found them together and almost killed the unlucky lover.
When the passions subsided, Pelageya decided to make peace, taking the children, she went to her husband’s headquarters. The children were allowed to see their father, but she was not there. They say that after this she took revenge on Chapaev by informing the whites about the small number of forces stationed in Lbischensk.
IN Last year During his life, Chapaev also had affairs with a certain Tanka-Cossack (the daughter of a Cossack colonel, with whom he was forced to part with under the moral pressure of the Red Army) and the wife of Commissar Furmanov, Anna Nikitichnaya Steshenko, which led to an acute conflict with Furmanov and was the reason for Furmanov’s recall from the division shortly before Chapaev's death.
Chapaevsky myth
Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev did not immediately become a legend: the death of a division commander during the Civil War was not something exceptional. The Chapaev myth took shape over several years. The first step towards the glorification of the commander of the 25th division was the novel by Dmitry Furmanov, where Vasily Ivanovich was shown as a genius and, despite his simplicity, excessive gullibility and tendency to self-praise, a real folk hero.
The success of the film “Chapayev” was deafening: in 2 years more than 40 million viewers watched it, and Stalin watched it 38 (!) times in a year and a half. The lines at the box office turned into demonstrations.
130 years ago, on January 28 (February 9, new style), 1887, a hero of the Civil War was born. There is probably no more unique person in Russian history than Vasily Ivanovich Chapaev. His real life was short - he died at the age of 32, but his posthumous fame surpassed all imaginable and inconceivable boundaries.
Among the real historical figures of the past, you cannot find another one who would become an integral part of Russian folklore. What can we talk about if one of the varieties of checkers games is called “Chapaevka”.
Chapai's childhood
When on January 28 (February 9), 1887, in the village of Budaika, Cheboksary district, Kazan province, the sixth child was born into the family of Russian peasant Ivan Chapaev, neither mother nor father could even think about the glory that awaited their son.
Rather, they were thinking about the upcoming funeral - the baby, named Vasenka, was born at seven months old, was very weak and, it seemed, could not survive.
However, the will to live turned out to be stronger than death - the boy survived and began to grow up to the delight of his parents.
Vasya Chapaev did not even think about any military career - in poor Budaika there was a problem of everyday survival, there was no time for heavenly pretzels.
The origin of the family surname is interesting. Chapaev’s grandfather, Stepan Gavrilovich, was unloading timber and other heavy cargoes rafted down the Volga at the Cheboksary pier. And he often shouted “chap”, “chap”, “chap”, that is, “catch” or “catch”. Over time, the word “chepai” stuck with him as a street nickname, and then became his official surname.
It is curious that the Red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name exactly as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”.
The poverty of the Chapaev family drove them in search of a better life to the Samara province, to the village of Balakovo. Here Father Vasily had a cousin who lived as a patron of the parish school. The boy was assigned to study, hoping that over time he would become a priest.
War gives birth to heroes
In 1908, Vasily Chapaev was drafted into the army, but a year later he was discharged due to illness. Even before joining the army, Vasily started a family, marrying the 16-year-old daughter of a priest, Pelageya Metlina. Returning from the army, Chapaev began to engage in purely peaceful carpentry. In 1912, while continuing to work as a carpenter, Vasily and his family moved to Melekess. Until 1914, three children were born into the family of Pelageya and Vasily - two sons and a daughter.
The whole life of Chapaev and his family was turned upside down by the First World War. Called up in September 1914, Vasily went to the front in January 1915. He fought in Volhynia in Galicia and proved himself to be a skilled warrior. Chapaev ended the First World War with the rank of sergeant major, being awarded the soldier's St. George Cross of three degrees and the St. George Medal.
In the fall of 1917, the brave soldier Chapaev joined the Bolsheviks and unexpectedly showed himself to be a brilliant organizer. In the Nikolaev district of the Saratov province, he created 14 detachments of the Red Guard, which took part in the campaign against the troops of General Kaledin. On the basis of these detachments, the Pugachev brigade was created in May 1918 under the command of Chapaev. Together with this brigade, the self-taught commander recaptured the city of Nikolaevsk from the Czechoslovaks.
The fame and popularity of the young commander grew before our eyes. In September 1918, Chapaev led the 2nd Nikolaev Division, which instilled fear in the enemy. Nevertheless, Chapaev’s tough temperament and his inability to obey unquestioningly led to the fact that the command considered it best to send him from the front to study at the General Staff Academy.
Already in the 1970s, another legendary Red commander Semyon Budyonny, listening to jokes about Chapaev, shook his head: “I told Vaska: study, fool, otherwise they will laugh at you! Well, I didn’t listen!”
The Ural, the Ural River, its grave is deep...
Chapaev really did not stay long at the academy, once again going to the front. In the summer of 1919, he headed the 25th Rifle Division, which quickly became legendary, as part of which he carried out brilliant operations against Kolchak’s troops. On June 9, 1919, the Chapaevites liberated Ufa, and on July 11, Uralsk.
During the summer of 1919, Divisional Commander Chapaev managed to surprise the career white generals with his leadership talent. Both comrades and enemies saw in him a real military nugget. Alas, Chapaev did not have time to truly open up.
The tragedy, which is called Chapaev’s only military mistake, occurred on September 5, 1919. Chapaev's division was rapidly advancing, breaking away from the rear. Units of the division stopped to rest, and the headquarters was located in the village of Lbischensk.
On September 5, the Whites, numbering up to 2,000 bayonets under the command of General Borodin, carried out a raid and suddenly attacked the headquarters of the 25th division. The main forces of the Chapaevites were 40 km from Lbischensk and could not come to the rescue.
The real forces that could resist the Whites were 600 bayonets, and they entered into a battle that lasted six hours. Chapaev himself was hunted by a special detachment, which, however, was not successful. Vasily Ivanovich managed to get out of the house where he was quartered, gather about a hundred fighters who were retreating in disarray, and organize a defense.
There was conflicting information about the circumstances of Chapaev's death for a long time, until in 1962, the division commander's daughter Claudia received a letter from Hungary, in which two Chapayev veterans, Hungarians by nationality, who were personally present at the last minutes of the division commander's life, told what really happened.
During the battle with the Whites, Chapaev was wounded in the head and stomach, after which four Red Army soldiers, having built a raft from boards, managed to transport the commander to the other side of the Urals. However, Chapaev died from his wounds during the crossing.
The Red Army soldiers, fearing that their enemies would mock his body, buried Chapaev in the coastal sand, throwing branches over the place.
There were no active searches for the division commander’s grave immediately after the Civil War, because the version outlined by the commissar of the 25th division Dmitry Furmanov in his book “Chapaev” became canonical - that the wounded division commander drowned while trying to swim across the river.
In the 1960s, Chapaev’s daughter tried to search for her father’s grave, but it turned out that this was impossible - the course of the Urals changed its course, and the river bottom became the final resting place of the red hero.
Birth of a legend
Not everyone believed in Chapaev’s death. Historians who studied the biography of Chapaev noted that there was a story among Chapaev veterans that their Chapai swam out, was rescued by the Kazakhs, suffered from typhoid fever, lost his memory and now works as a carpenter in Kazakhstan, remembering nothing about his heroic past.
Fans of the white movement like to attach great importance to the Lbishchensky raid, calling it a major victory, but this is not so. Even the destruction of the headquarters of the 25th division and the death of its commander did not affect the general course of the war - the Chapaev division continued to successfully destroy enemy units.
Not everyone knows that the Chapaevites avenged their commander on the same day, September 5th. The commander of the White raid, General Borodin, who was victoriously driving through Lbischensk after the defeat of Chapaev’s headquarters, was shot by the Red Army soldier Volkov.
Historians still cannot agree on what Chapaev’s role as a commander in the Civil War actually was. Some believe that he actually played a significant role, others believe that his image has been exaggerated by art.
Studying the life of Chapaev, you are surprised to discover how closely the legendary hero is connected with other historical figures.
For example, a fighter in the Chapaev division was the writer Yaroslav Hasek, the author of “The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik.”
The head of the trophy team of the Chapaev division was Sidor Artemyevich Kovpak. During the Great Patriotic War, one name of this partisan commander would terrify the Nazis.
Major General Ivan Panfilov, whose division's steadfastness helped defend Moscow in 1941, began his military career as a platoon commander of an infantry company of the Chapaev Division.
And one last thing. Water is fatally connected not only with the fate of division commander Chapaev, but also with the fate of the division.
The 25th Rifle Division existed in the ranks of the Red Army until the Great Patriotic War and took part in the defense of Sevastopol. It was the fighters of the 25th Chapaev Division who stood to the last in the most tragic, last days of the city’s defense. The division was completely destroyed, and so that its banners would not fall to the enemy, the last surviving soldiers drowned them in the Black Sea.
Academy Student
Chapaev's education, contrary to popular opinion, was not limited to two years of parish school. In 1918, he was enrolled in the military academy of the Red Army, where many soldiers were “herded” to improve their general literacy and learn strategy. According to the recollections of his classmate, the peaceful student life weighed on Chapaev: “The hell with it! I'll leave! To come up with such an absurdity - fighting people at their desks! Two months later, he submitted a report asking to be released from this “prison” to the front. Several stories have been preserved about Vasily Ivanovich’s stay at the academy. The first says that during a geography exam, in response to an old general’s question about the significance of the Neman River, Chapaev asked the professor if he knew about the significance of the Solyanka River, where he fought with the Cossacks. According to the second, in a discussion of the Battle of Cannes, he called the Romans “blind kittens,” telling the teacher, the prominent military theorist Sechenov: “We have already shown generals like you how to fight!”
Motorist
We all imagine Chapaev as a courageous fighter with a fluffy mustache, a naked sword and galloping on a dashing horse. This image was created by the national actor Boris Babochkin. In life, Vasily Ivanovich preferred cars to horses. Back on the fronts of the First World War, he was seriously wounded in the thigh, so riding became a problem. So Chapaev became one of the first Red commanders to use a car. He chose his iron horses very meticulously. The first, the American Stever, was rejected due to strong shaking; the red Packard that replaced it also had to be abandoned - it was not suitable for military operations in the steppe. But the red commander liked the Ford, which pushed 70 miles off-road. Chapaev also selected the best drivers. One of them, Nikolai Ivanov, was practically taken by force to Moscow and made the personal driver of Lenin’s sister, Anna Ulyanova-Elizarova.
“...It is curious that the Red commander himself subsequently wrote his last name exactly as “Chepaev”, and not “Chapaev”.”
I wonder how he should have written his last name if he was Chepaev? Chapaev was made by Furmanov and the Vasilyev brothers. Before the release of the film on the screens of the country, on the monument to the division commander in Samara it was written - Chepaev, the street was called Chepaevskaya, the city of Trotsk - Chepaevsk, and even the Mocha River was renamed Chepaevka. In order not to bring confusion into the minds of Soviet citizens, in all these toponyms “CHE” was changed to “CHA”.
